Canadians have an edge at the speed skating world championships

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With home-ice advantage and several medal contenders on its roster, Canada looks poised for a strong showing at the World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships starting Thursday in Calgary.

As the name implies, this event determines the men's and women's world champions (and silver and bronze medallists) in each separate distance in long track speed skating. The allround world championships, where skaters compete for a unified title across multiple distances, take place next month in Germany.

The program for the single-distances world championships is nearly identical to the Olympics', where there are six individual events of varying lengths and a team pursuit for both men and women. The worlds add a team sprint event for each gender.

Last year in the Netherlands, Canada placed second in the standings with three gold (all in team events) and seven total medals. The host country dominated with 17 medals, including seven gold, showing that it remains the world's most powerful speed skating nation.

It'll be tough to catch the Dutch this week. But Canada could be in line for another big worlds with 19 skaters (including four medallists from the most recent Winter Olympics) set to compete on Calgary's Olympic Oval — the team's primary training base and the spiritual home of Canadian long track speed skating.

On this season's World Cup tour, which wrapped up earlier this month in Quebec City, Canada averaged close to four medals and one gold at each of the six stops — a good baseline for what to expect in Calgary. 

Canada's top medal contenders are:

Ivanie Blondin: The