Canada's (very tall) short track star could own the world championships

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What a week to be a speed skating fan!

The world single-distances championships for long track skaters began today in Norway, where the Canadian trio of Brooklyn McDougall, Béatrice Lamarche and Ivanie Blondin took silver in the women's team sprint.

Canada finished sixth in the men's team sprint. At last year's world championships in Calgary, Canada won gold in both events en route to capturing a national-record 10 medals.

Blondin also placed eighth in the women's 3,000 metres today, right behind Canadians Valerie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann, who were sixth and seventh. Canada's Ted-Jan Bloemen and Graeme Fish were seventh and 13th, respectively, in the men's 5,000m.

Meanwhile, the best short track skaters are in Beijing for their world championships, which start Friday with qualifying rounds for the medal races on Saturday and Sunday. Canadians will be in contention for plenty of hardware after racking up a total of 37 medals across the six World Tour stops this season, including 21 gold, to give Canada a comfortable victory over the Netherlands and Italy for the team championship.

WATCH | Canada claims women's team sprint silver:

Canadian women capture team sprint silver at speed skating worlds

The top Canadian to watch is Will Dandjinou, who's poised to be a big star at next year's Winter Olympics in Italy after missing the cut for the 2022 Games. Unusually tall for a short-tracker, the 23-year-old from Sherbrooke, Que., stands 6-foot-3 without skates, stretching far beyond the 5-foot-9 frame he figures is ideal for his sport. "There's no blueprint for us tall