Washington, Nov. 15 -- France's Timothy Loubineaud broke the men's 5,000-meter world record at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup season-opening leg in Salt Lake City with a time of 6:00.23, more than one second faster than the previous mark of 6:01.56 set by Sweden's Nils van der Poel.
"I never expected this in my life. As a French guy, we don't have any tracks in France, and I'm also not the most talented guy," Loubineaud, who transitioned from inline skating only seven years ago, told the ISU official website.
"I used to see Sven Kramer, Patrick Roest, Davide Ghiotto ... those guys are way better than I am, and today I'm part of that group."The 29-year-old said he found unexpected strength as the laps unfolded.
"I started the race, and I...