Brittany Schussler (born April 21, 1985) is a Canadian retired speed skater.[1][2] She was a member of the national speed skating team from 2002 to 2014.[1] Schussler's best individual performance was placing sixth in the 1500 metres at the World Championships in 2008 and she is a three times bronze medallist at the National Single Distance Championships. Her best team performances include a gold medal at a World Cup team pursuit (February 2008), first place in the World Cup standings for team pursuit in 2008 and a silver medal at the 2008 World Championships in Nagano.

Brittany Schussler
Brittany Schussler participating at the 2008 World Cup at Heerenveen, Netherlands.
Personal information
Born (1985-04-21) April 21, 1985 (age 39)
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Sport
CountryCanada
ClubWinnipeg Speed Skating
Achievements and titles
World finalsWorld Cup
2012 team pursuit
Personal best(s)500 m – 39.08
1000 m – 1:15.57
1500 m – 1:54.85
3000 m – 4:03.17
5000 m – 7.04.36
Medal record
Women's speed skating
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Richmond Team pursuit
Gold medal – first place 2011 Inzell Team pursuit
Silver medal – second place 2008 Nagano Team pursuit
Silver medal – second place 2012 Heerenveen Team pursuit
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Roseville Team pursuit
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Kushiro Team pursuit
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Kushiro 1500 m

Professional speed skating career

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Already at a young age Schussler at the World Junior Championships. In total she finished five times a Junior Championship. Her best individual results were the fourth places in Collalbo 2002 and Kushiro 2003. The best team pursuit results at Junior Championships were the bronze medals in Kushiro 2003 and Roseville 2004.[3]

In the Olympic year 2002 Schussler won, still junior, the Canadian Allround Championship. This can be explained by the reason that all the Canadian top athletes were preparing for the Olympics in Salt Lake City and didn't go to the National Championship Allround. The two years after the 2002 Olympics she placed fifth both years. The next National Championship medal Schussler won was the bronze medal at the 1500 meters Single Distance Championship in 2006. In the next two years she repeated the win of a bronze medal at Canadian Single Distance Championship, in 2007 and 2008 she ended third at the 3000 meters.

2008 was the first year she participated at a senior World Championship. In Berlin she reached the 15th place at the World Allround Championships and at the World Single Distance Championships in Nagano she placed sixth on the 1500 meters. In Nagano she won her first senior medal with Christine Nesbitt and Kristina Groves in the Canadian pursuit team at the World Championships.

Schussler went to the 2010 Winter Olympics as a favourite to win the gold medal in the women's team pursuit, however they were unable to achieve that and the women's team finished out of the medals. She went home from those games extremely disappointed, Schussler said of her finish there that she was too focused on her results and not the act of racing.[4]

She again qualified for her third Olympics to represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. These were likely to be Schussler's last competitive games and Schussler was aware of that with her mind to finally achieve at least one Olympic medal. Schussler said of Sochi that "Going into Sochi, I want to focus on leaving knowing that I had the races I want to have at the Olympics. If that doesn't mean a medal, that's sad. But it would be more disappointing to leave knowing I didn't have the races I wanted to have and didn't deliver the performance I could have. I want to cross the finish line knowing I've shown what I'm made of and having done myself proud for the 21 years of training I've put into this moment."[4]

Personal

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Schussler was introduced to speed skating at the age of 7.[1] She was born and raised in the River Heights neighbourhood of Winnipeg until she was ten years old when she moved to the neighbourhood of Charleswood.[4] As of 2014 Schussler has spent the last 11 years living and training in Calgary, Alberta, but she still listed Winnipeg her hometown.[4]

Speed skating

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Personal records

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Personal records[5]
Women's speed skating
Event Result Date Location Notes
500 m 39.08 December 28, 2007 Olympic Oval, Calgary
1000 m 1:15.57 November 17, 2013 Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City
1500 m 1:54.85 December 5, 2009 Olympic Oval, Calgary
3000 m 4:03.17 December 11, 2009 Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City
5000 m 7:04.36 October 24, 2010 Olympic Oval, Calgary

World records

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World records[6]
Women's speed skating
Event Result Date Location Notes
Team pursuit 2:55.79 March 12, 2009 Olympic Oval, Calgary World record (with Kristina Groves and Christine Nesbitt) until beaten by Miho Takagi, Nana Takagi and Ayano Sato on November 10, 2017.[7]

Tournament summary

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Year Canadian Distance Canadian Allround Canadian Sprint Continental World
Allround
World
Distance
World
Cup
World
Junior
99/00 5th
00/01 15th 8th
01/02   4th
4th team pursuit
02/03 13th 5th 32nd 1000 m 4th
  team pursuit
03/04 NC 5th 43rd 1000 m 10th
  team pursuit
04/05 NC NC 46th 1000 m
05/06 6th 1000 m
  1500 m
5th 3000 m
7th 44th 500 m
23rd 1000 m
36th 1500 m
06/07 7th 500 m
5th 1000 m
5th 1500 m
  3000 m
6th 30th 500 m
20th 1000 m
17th 1500 m
28th 3k/5k
07/08 9th 500 m
4th 1000 m
4th 1500 m
  3000 m
4th 5000 m
6th NC15 6th 1500 m
13th 3000 m
  team pursuit
51st 500 m
13th 1000 m
12th 1500 m
28th 3k/5k
  team pursuit
- = no participation, NOTE: Schussler is senior speed skater since 2004 and does not participate at junior tournaments since.
NC = not qualified for the last distance, the number shows the final classification

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Athlete Biography: Brittany Schussler". Archived from the original on 2009-03-21. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
  2. ^ "Brittany Schussler retires from speed skating". CBC Sports. July 8, 2014.
  3. ^ "Results of Brittany Schussler". Retrieved 2008-03-06.
  4. ^ a b c d Gary Lawless (January 23, 2014). "Winnipeg's Schussler to skate in four events in Sochi, hopes to return with at least one medal". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  5. ^ "Brittany Schussler". SpeedskatingResults.com. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  6. ^ "Brittany Schussler". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  7. ^ "Evolution of the world record Team pursuit Women". www.speedskatingstats.com. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
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Records
Preceded by Women's team pursuit speed skating world record
December 6, 2009 – November 10, 2017
with Kristina Groves and Christine Nesbitt
Succeeded by