William Dandjinou's new approach to speed skating and his road to 2030

When I traveled to Montreal earlier this month to sit down with Will Dagenoux, I wasn't expecting to hear this. I'll maybe break the news to you right now, but I will be competing at the Long Track National Trials. I'm absorbing that right now. Yeah, it's a surprise. I haven't talked about it to anyone yet. After leaving the disappointing 2026 Olympics without a single individual medal, the two-time Crystal Globe winner felt his approach to the 2030 Games had to be different. I want to have lasting impact on my progression throughout the next four years. I need to take a step back and take time to build on the foundations. It's like building a house. I think I have a very beautiful house, a very strong house, but there's always some cracks somewhere in the foundation that you want to be able to patch to to make sure that the next time you build something on it, it's stronger. Taking a step back means missing the first two short track tour stops in Canada. And competing instead at the long track championships in Quebec City last weekend. It's a challenge that excites him. That's just part of trying new things and also I feel like there's a really, really good parallel between long track and short track. So I think as a short tracker, doing a little bit of long track can really develop some skills that were missing to my game. I can promise you that maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day I will be Olympic champion. I promise you that. For those Canadians fretting about whether this means an end to Dagenoux's pursuit of that elusive short track Olympic title, fear not. You're not going to see me competing in long track much this season. I still have a lot to prove, and I'll be in short track in four years in France. Given Dagenoux's athletic gifts, could he become just one of two Canadian skaters to win Olympic medals in both speed skating events at the Olympic Games? I think there's also a possibility to do both, but then what I'm going to say is I'm not taking anything for granted, especially in an event that I've never competed in. So if it's possible, I'd love to be able to compete in both.