Park City speedskater Casey Dawson’s season had its ups and downs heading into back-to-back World Cups in Calgary, Canada, earlier in December.
On the positive side, the 22-year-old helped the U.S. win a gold medal in the team pursuit at the first World Cup of the season. But he was also dealing with an illness, and his early results in his individual races weren’t what he wanted.
“I was sick the first two World Cups,” he said. “Like, pretty sick. I found out that my nose is pretty messed up, so I’m more prone to infections and stuff traveling and stuff. So, I had to deal with that, so they weren’t really that impressive individually wise. Just kind of figuring out how to skate while I’m sick and everything.”
Dawson turned his season around in Calgary. In addition to helping the U.S. win another medal in the team pursuit – the same event that he won a bronze medal in at the Olympics in February – Dawson finished in the top five in Division B in all his individual events. The Parkite heads into 2023 with some positive momentum.
“Finally in Calgary, I had some good races, and I was pretty happy about that,” Dawson said. “Good results finally pop out. It’s kind of been a rollercoaster of a year kind of just getting things back together after the Olympics.”
Dawson took some time off over the summer and traveled before getting back into training. He’s feeling optimistic in the first year of the new Olympic cycle.
“Four years before Beijing, I wasn’t at this level yet, so to be here and build off that is a good place to be,” Dawson said. “Just setting those little goals and then to reach the ultimate goal in Italy in 2026.”
Dawson wasn’t alone in having a tough time as an individual early on. That was one of the positives of winning in the team pursuit with his American teammates.
“Our whole team, our individual results haven’t really been anything spectacular, but it just shows that us three – me, Ethan (Cepuran) and Emery (Lehman) – we can skate really well together in the team pursuit and do something in that,” Dawson said. “All the other countries are really strong individually, and we can still come together and beat them, which is pretty cool.”
“It’s tough not doing too well in your individual races because obviously you want to do good at those,” Dawson added. “But I think actually all of us were having some issues with our individual races. Being able to come together and skate well together at the team pursuit, it’s definitely a surprise to other countries because they’re expecting us not to do that well compared to our individual races. But it just shows how strong we are at the team pursuit, even if we’re not feeling our best.”
The American men topped the World Cup standings in the team pursuit last year in addition to winning a bronze medal in Beijing. They’ve picked up from where they left off last season and are in first place once again this year.
“Just keeping that momentum from last season into this season is still pretty sweet,” Dawson said. “We’re pretty happy to just know that we’re still at a good level and just know that we can still win against the gold medalist from the Olympics, Norway, and stuff. It’s cool to know that we can still do that and just continue that forward for years to come.”
In the Division B races in Calgary, Dawson finished third in the 5,000-meter event, fifth in the 1,500 meter in the first World Cup and then came back for the second World Cup to finish fourth in the 1,500 meter and third in the 10,000 meter. Dawson said finishing in the top three in Calgary will move him back to Division A heading into the final two World Cups in Poland in February.
“From my sickness, losing my A Division spot in some of my races to going back up to A Division, it’s cool to see,” Dawson said. “But to actually be racing a little bit better than I have been, and it’s those little victories that keep you moving forward and move you up in those divisions.”
Dawson has nationals coming up in early January, but he’s also focused on the back-to-back World Cups in Poland as well as the world championships in early March. Dawson said he’s qualified for the world championships in the 10,000 meter and the team pursuit, but he’s also trying to make it in the 5,000 and 1,500.
“We have two World Cups in Poland back to back, so there’s one team pursuit there and then two 5Ks and two 1,500s,” Dawson said. “And then world championships after that, which we want to try to get the world title in the team pursuit and try to skate my best in the 10K as well and maybe the 5K. … I guess that’s what (in) the next two World Cups I’ll have to do is qualify more distances.”
Dawson’s results in Calgary also give him something to build off heading into 2023.
“It’s cool to see that this is where I’m at for the next four years, and I can only build off it, get stronger,” Dawson said. “It’s a good baseline, and now I’m in A Division again.”