Winners: Susan Auch, Speed Skating
Susan Auch competing in the 500m race at the Canadian Speed Skating Sprint Championships in Calgary, Canada.
Date: January 11, 2000
Collection: CP photo/Jeff McIntosh
1995 - Feature Story
The first of the great Canadian long-track speed skaters, had begun her career as a short-tracker. But Susan Auch took it out to the big oval, turning herself into a world-ranked 500m specialist who would race in five Olympic Winter Games. A Silver medal in the 500m at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, led to more of the same in 1995. Auch finished second behind the great Bonnie Blair of the United States in the 1995 World Cup Standings, plus won a Silver medal at the 1995 World Sprint Championships in Milwaukee. In February, at the Calgary Olympic Oval, Auch skated to a world-record for the 500m in a time of 38.94 seconds. It would instead go down as a Canadian record because Blair also broke the old mark, skating in 38.69. Later in the season, Auch recorded her first World Cup victory in Innsbruck, Austria, and accumulated her sixth consecutive Canadian championship.
Career Highlights
- 1998 Silver medal in the 500m event at the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano
- 1995 Bobbie Rosenfeld Award (Canada’s female athlete of the year)
- 1994, 1995, 1998 Second place in the 500m event at the World Sprint Championships
- 1994 Silver medal in the 500m event at the Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer
- 1990-1995 First place overall at the Canadian Sprint Championships
Susan Auch preparing for a practice session at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano.
Date: February 5, 1998
Collection: CP photo/Paul Chiasson
Susan Auch competing in the Olympic Oval on the campus of the University of Calgary.
Date: November 2001- January 2002
Collection: www.viewCalgary.com
