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Humboldt’s William Dutton hangs up his blades

After a lengthy career, Humboldt native William Dutton has announced his retirement from competitive speed skating. The 28-year-old got his speed skating start in Saskatoon and later Humboldt, before moving to Calgary to train at the Olympic Oval.
William Dutton
Humboldt’s William Dutton competes in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Dutton wrapped up his 2018 season by announcing it would be his last. photo by fotosports.ca/ Speed Skating Canada

After a lengthy career, Humboldt native William Dutton has announced his retirement from competitive speed skating.

The 28-year-old got his speed skating start in Saskatoon and later Humboldt, before moving to Calgary to train at the Olympic Oval.

Dutton’s international career began in 2009, when he qualified to compete for Canada at the World Junior Championships in Zakopane, Poland.

Since that time, Dutton has gone on to appear in 83 World Cup races from 2010-2018, and one Olympics, competing in Sochi in 2014, finishing 14th in the 500m, and 26th in the 1000m.

Throughout the course of his career, Dutton won five World Cup medals, including gold in the men’s team sprint, and two silver and two bronze in men’s 500m.

Dutton also helped the Canadian Sprint Team break the world record in 2017, a record he held for a month until another Canadian team set a new mark.

“On behalf of Speed Skating Canada’s community, I would like to congratulate William Dutton for his achievements throughout his career,” said Speed Skating Canada Chief Executive Officer Susan Auch in the press release.

“His perseverance and determination took him to the 2014 Olympic Games and, then, brought him back from retirement to win his first World Cup medals. Congratulations again and best wishes in your future endeavours.”

While speed skating was always a part of Dutton’s life, the Humboldt native did take a short break from the sport, competing instead in five of seven Red Bull Crashed Ice events in 2015, before briefly retiring.

“It was always in my plan to retire at the end of the 2018 Olympic cycle,” said Dutton in a press release. “After a short stint of retirement in 2015, I decided that I wanted to give skating one more shot and then, I would be ready to walk away from competitive speed skating.”

While stepping away from sport is never easy, Dutton noted in the press release that he would be leaving with some great memories, noting he will never forget his 2016 season, a year he calls his best as a speed skater.

“I won multiple World Cup medals and skated one of the fastest 500m races in the history of the sport at the time.  My personal favourite was winning my first and second World Cup medals back to back in the 500m in front of a home crowd and getting to share that experience with my family and friends.”

Of course, Dutton also says he will not forget the training, and the endless bike rides across Montana, getting lost in the mountains in Oregon, and post-training fly fishing trips.

“That is where I had the opportunity to build relationships with people who remain my closest friends. My teammates and I had some great adventures and we reminisce every time we get together to catch up.”

Family also is very important to Dutton, and were integral in his coming out of retirement, he said.

“They encouraged me to pursue my dreams after my first pseudo-retirement, which led me to accomplishing a few of my skating goals that I had not yet ticked off my bucket list. They supported me through the hard times and tried in their own way to help me see the bigger picture.”

Dutton also thanked all of his family, friends, and supporters throughout the years.

“I always had one of the loudest cheering sections and when I would watch video reviews for technical sessions, I could always hear their voices and that gave me a little boost to keep striving for improvement,” he noted.

“Also, I wish to thank all of the coaches who gave me tools to become successful. I had so many coaches who were extremely dedicated and passionate, and each one helped me in their own way to achieve success.”

While Dutton will suddenly have more time to fill, with competitive speed skating no longer in his schedule, the 28-year-old has already began filling the time as he looks to complete his kinesiology degree at the University of Calgary.

“I would encourage those involved in sport to take time to step outside the bubble occasionally and work on their other interests frequently to keep reminding themselves why they are passionate about sport,” he said.

“When I truly discovered how much I love speed skating, that was when I was finally able to perform at my best.”