Canadian speed skater Laurent Dubreuil claims overall World Cup title in 500m

Canadian speed skater Laurent Dubreuil finished fourth in his 500-metre event on Sunday in Heerenveen, Netherlands, but it was more than enough to secure his first overall World Cup season title.

Japan's Tatsuya Shinhama, who won Saturday's race, also picked up the win in Sunday's event in a time of 34.487 seconds, but could not catch points leader Dubreuil.

The Canadian finished 15-100ths of a second behind Shinhama, but ended up with an insurmountable point total of 614, to the Japanese skater's 586.

Dubreuil won silver in the men's 1,000 at last month's Beijing Olympics, after a disappointing showing in his signature event. He finished fourth in the 500 in Beijing, the only time all season he missed the podium in the distance.

More to come.