View source for Denny Morrison

{{short description|Canadian speed skater}}
{{Distinguish|Daniel Morrison (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox speed skater
| name           = Denny Morrison
| image          = 2013 WSDC Sochi - Denny Morrison.JPG
| caption        = Denny Morrison at the 2013 World Single Distance Championships in Sochi.
| country        = {{CAN}}
| birth_date     = {{birth date and age|1985|9|8}}
| birth_place    = [[Chetwynd, British Columbia]]
| height         = {{height|m=1.83}}
| weight         = {{convert|80|kg|lb stlb|0}}
| website        = 
| medaltemplates = 
{{Medal|Sport | Men's [[speed skating]] }}
{{Medal|Country | {{CAN}} }}
{{Medal|Competition | [[Speed skating at the Winter Olympics|Olympic Games]] }}
{{Medal|Gold | [[2010 Winter Olympics|2010 Vancouver]] | [[Speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Men's team pursuit|Team pursuit]] }}
{{Medal|Silver | [[2006 Winter Olympics|2006 Turin]] | [[Speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Men's team pursuit|Team pursuit]] }}
{{Medal|Silver | [[2014 Winter Olympics|2014 Sochi]] | [[Speed skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics – Men's 1000 metres|1000 m]] }}
{{Medal|Bronze | [[2014 Winter Olympics|2014 Sochi]] | [[Speed skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics – Men's 1500 metres|1500 m]] }}
{{Medal|Competition | [[World Single Distance Championships for Men|World Single Distance Championships]] }}
{{Medal|Gold | [[2008 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2008 Nagano]] | 1500 m }}
{{Medal|Gold | [[2012 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2012 Heerenveen]] | [[2012 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships – Men's 1500 metres|1500 m]] }}
{{Medal|Silver | [[2007 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2007 Salt Lake City]] | 1000 m }}
{{Medal|Silver | [[2007 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2007 Salt Lake City]] | Team pursuit }}
{{Medal|Silver | [[2009 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2009 Vancouver]] | 1000 m }}
{{Medal|Silver | [[2011 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2011 Inzell]] | [[2011 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships – Men's team pursuit|Team pursuit]] }}
{{Medal|Silver | [[2015 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2015 Heerenveen]] | [[2015 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships – Men's 1500 metres|1500 m]] }}
{{Medal|Silver | [[2015 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2015 Heerenveen]] | Team pursuit }}
{{Medal|Bronze | [[2007 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2007 Salt Lake City]] | 1500 m }}
{{Medal|Bronze | [[2008 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2008 Nagano]] | 1000 m }}
{{Medal|Bronze | [[2009 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2009 Vancouver]] | 1500 m }}
}}

'''Denny Morrison''' (born September 8, 1985) is a Canadian [[speed skating|speedskater]] from [[Fort St. John, British Columbia]]. He is an Olympic champion as a member of Canada's men's team pursuit, an event which he also won silver in at the [[2006 Winter Olympics]]. Morrison won his first individual Olympic medal in [[Sochi]] when he won a silver in the men's 1000&nbsp;m after teammate [[Gilmore Junio]] selflessly gave up his spot in order for Morrison, who fell at the national qualification event, failed to originally qualify. He won a second individual medal at those games, a bronze in the 1500&nbsp;m. With four total Olympic medals, Morrison shares the record for the most medals of any Canadian male long track speed skaters along with [[Gaétan Boucher]].<ref name=bronze>{{cite news |title=Denny Morrison wins bronze in 1500 metre speed skating |author=Brandon Hicks |url=http://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/denny-morrison-wins-bronze-500-metre-speed-skating.html |publisher=[[CBC Sports]] |date=February 15, 2014}}</ref>

Primarily a middle distance skater in the 1000 and 1500 m events, he held the [[World record progression 1500 m speed skating men|world record]] time of 1:42.01 from March 14, 2008, to March 6, 2009, in the 1500&nbsp;m.<ref name=wre1500>{{cite web |url=http://www.speedskatingstats.com/index.php?file=records&g=m&event=1500 |title=Evolution of the world record 1500 meters Men |publisher=www.speedskatingstats.com |access-date=June 4, 2014}}</ref> The time is still the Canadian record for the distance.<ref name=nr>{{cite web |url=http://www.speedskatingresults.com/index.php?p=11 |title=National Records – Canada (CAN) |publisher=www.speedskatingresults.com |access-date=June 4, 2014}}</ref>

Morrison finished in 4th place in the Junior World Allround Championships in 2004 and 2005, and a 5th place in his first senior [[World Allround Speed Skating Championships|World Allround]] in 2006. He has also won twelve medals at the World Championships, with two gold, six silver, and four bronze medals to his name. Morrison once held the 9th place on the allround best -ever [[Adelskalender (skating)|Adelskalender]].

==Career==
At the [[2006 Winter Olympics]], Morrison won a silver medal as part of the Canadian men's speed skating pursuit team. Individually, Morrison won a silver in the 1500 m and a bronze in the 1000 m at a World Cup event in Turin in 2005–06. In 2007, Morrison won gold in the 1000 metre event in Calgary in the World Cup finals with a time of 1:07:24. He set a Canadian record, bettering his idol, [[Jeremy Wotherspoon]]. In that same weekend, Morrison also won a bronze in the 1500 metre event.

Morrison also participated in the [[2007 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2007 World Single Distance Championships]], and achieved good results, winning three medals, bronze in the 1500 m and silver in the 1000 m, losing both times to [[Shani Davis]]. In the team pursuit event he, along with [[Arne Dankers]] and [[Justin Warsylewicz]], set an early best time, which broke the old [[World record progression team pursuit speed skating men|team pursuit world record]] (previously held by Morrison, Dankers and [[Steven Elm]]),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://live.isuresults.eu/2006-2007/saltlakecity/draw1707.html |title=WORLD SINGLE DISTANCES SALT LAKE CITY – DRAW MEN TEAM PURSUIT |publisher=live.isuresults.eu |access-date=June 4, 2014}}</ref> but the Dutch team of [[Sven Kramer]], [[Erben Wennemars]] and [[Carl Verheijen]] would go on to beat the time set by Canada by five-tenths of a second, relegating Canada to 2nd place.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.speedskatingstats.com/index.php?file=records&g=m&event=team |title=Evolution of the world record Team pursuit Men |publisher=www.speedskatingstats.com |access-date=June 4, 2014}}</ref>
[[File:2009 WSD Speed Skating Championships - 36.jpg|thumb|left|Denny Morrison (far right) competes in the team pursuit with Lucas Makowski and Jay Morrison at the 2009 World Single Distance Championships.]]
In 2008 Morrison topped his result from the year before at the World Single Distance Championships in [[Nagano, Nagano|Nagano]], Japan. He took the bronze medal in the 1000 meters, but won the 1500 m and took home the gold medal. A week later, at the ING Finale at the [[Olympic Oval]] in Calgary, he set a new [[World record progression 1500 m speed skating men|world record in the 1500 meters]] in a time of 1:42.01, beating the old record held by both [[Shani Davis]] and [[Erben Wennemars]].<ref name=wre1500 />

He competed at the [[2010 Winter Olympics]] in [[Vancouver]] where he went in as a strong medal favourite in all three of his competitive events. Despite competing on home ice Morrison was unable to win an individual medal, his best finish was a ninth in the 1500&nbsp;m. He did find the medal podium though when he won a gold medal in the [[Speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Men's team pursuit|team pursuit]] along with [[Lucas Makowsky]] and [[Mathieu Giroux]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ctvolympics.ca/speed-skating/news/newsid=53783.html |title=Canada wins team pursuit gold |author=Celia, Danny |publisher=CTV Olympics |date=February 27, 2010 |access-date=February 27, 2010}}</ref> After the Olympics, Morrison considered retirement with some time away from summer training. Eventually he re-joined the World Cup circuit and eventually finished the season winning silver at the 2011 WSD Championships, with his team pursuit team. Re-motivated for 2012, he finished the season by winning his second World Championship title, again in the 1500 m. Morrison's 2013 season was off to a great start with an initial win at the first World Cup in [[Heerenveen]], Netherlands, and finished the fall World Cup circuit leading the 1000 m points total so far. Morrison then injured himself while training in [[Fernie, British Columbia]], breaking his [[tibia]]. At the time he was the leader of the [[2012–13 ISU Speed Skating World Cup]].

===2014 Winter Olympics===
Having to come back from injury, Morrison qualified for the men's 1500&nbsp;m at the Canadian trials for the Sochi Olympics. In the 1000&nbsp;m disaster struck when he fell meaning he was unable to qualify for one of his best events. Though Morrison had two team pursuit medals to his name, he had yet to achieve an individual medal, a medal which he felt was missing from his collection. [[Gilmore Junio]], a fellow athlete, relinquished his spot in order for Morrison to skate the event at the Olympics just days before the event was to take place. At the [[2014 Winter Olympics]] Morrison won silver in the 1000&nbsp;m trailing the eventual winner [[Stefan Groothuis]] by 4/100ths of a second.<ref name=indvsilver>{{cite news |title=Denny Morrison wins silver in 1,000m speed skating |author=Dean Campbell |url=http://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/denny-morrison-leads-canadians-into-1000m-speed-skating.html |publisher=[[CBC Sports]] |date=February 12, 2014}}</ref> After the race Morrison made sure to first thank Junio "I have to thank my teammate Gilmore Junio because without him none of this would have been possible."<ref name=indvsilver /> He later added, "Props to my entire support team, and not just my teammates – Gilmore, huge move, definitely – but the therapists, the coaches, the team leader, everyone had a part in this medal and I'm so happy to share with all my entire team."<ref name=indvsilver />

Following his silver medal performance, Morrison competed in his originally scheduled 1500&nbsp;m event. Skating in the 15th pair of twenty he took over the lead until later pairings of Poland's [[Zbigniew Bródka]] took over the lead. Bródka would eventually end in a photo finish tie with [[Koen Verweij]] which would push Morrison into third and the bronze medal position. This gave Morrison his fourth ever Olympic medal, equaling [[Gaétan Boucher]] for the most medals by a Canadian male long track speed skater.<ref name=bronze />

===Post-Sochi===
The [[2015 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships]] meant more success for Morrison where he won two silver medals, an individual in the 1,500&nbsp;m and a second in the team pursuit with [[Ted-Jan Bloemen]] and [[Jordan Belchos]]. Morrison said of the team's silver that "With (Bloemen) coming over this summer, it was a new team, we had to communicate, find out what our flaws were, and work on them. We eventually created better results... And today, it all came together. This is just the beginning for us, on the road to the 2018 Olympics.".<ref>{{cite news |title=Denny Morrison wins 2 medals at speed skating worlds |url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/speedskating/denny-morrison-wins-2-medals-at-speed-skating-worlds-1.2956755 |publisher=[[CBC Sports]] |date=February 13, 2015}}</ref>

Morrison suffered a fractured femur in a motorcycle accident in May 2015 leaving him with a steel rod permanently implanted in his leg and unable to recall where he was or how he had gotten there.<ref>{{cite news |title=Meet Denny Morrison, the 'luckiest man' on skates |url=http://www.cbc.ca/playersvoice/entry/meet-speed-skater-denny-morrison-the-luckiest-man-alive |author=Denny Morrison |work=[[CBC Sports]] |date=November 11, 2015}}</ref> Just eleven months after the accident Morrison again befell misfortune when he announced in late April 2016 that he had suffered a stroke in [[Utah]] during a 20-day bicycle ride from [[Arizona]] to Utah.<ref>{{cite news |title=Denny Morrison suffers stroke in Utah |url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/speedskating/denny-morrison-stroke-olympian-1.3550669 |publisher=[[CBC Sports]] |date=April 23, 2016}}</ref>

===2018 Winter Olympics===
Morrison qualified to compete for [[Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics#Speed skating|Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/speedskating/canadian-olympic-speed-skating-team-announcement-1.4479749|title=Ted-Jan Bloemen, Ivanie Blondin front Canada's Olympic long track team|last=Harrison|first=Doug|date=10 January 2018|website=www.cbc.ca/sports/|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] (CBC)|access-date=11 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Spencer|first=Donna|date=10 January 2018|title=Speed skater Denny Morrison and 'guardian angel' wife both headed to Olympics|url=https://www.thestar.com/sports/amateur/2018/01/10/speed-skater-denny-morrison-and-guardian-angel-wife-both-headed-to-olympics.html|work=[[Canadian Press]]|location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada|access-date=11 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.speedskating.ca/news-and-info/news/canadian-long-track-speed-skating-team-named-for-pyeongchang-2018|title=Canadian long track speed skating team named for PyeongChang 2018|date=10 January 2018|website=www.speedskating.ca/|publisher=[[Speed Skating Canada]]|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=11 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111000525/http://www.speedskating.ca/news-and-info/news/canadian-long-track-speed-skating-team-named-for-pyeongchang-2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Sponsorships==
Though Morrison had many short term sponsors leading into his home Olympics, he was aligned primarily with DNOW since 2007. DNOW and his other sponsor, Pomeroy Hotel Group both failed to sign a renewal sponsorship past 2015 after Morrison was badly injured in a motorcycle crash. He worked with Nike from 2008 to 2013, B2Ten from 2006 to 2009, was a CAN Fund recipient in 2009 and 2014, 2018, and a recipient of the Investors Group Athlete Grant in 2008 and 2009. Morrison’s long comeback from the 2015 motorcycle crash (and resulting stroke in 2016) were backed by InjaNation and Mawer, who sponsored Morrison through his 4th Olympics in 2018, and until the end of his career at the conclusion of the 2018/2019 season<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canadianathletesnow.ca/recipients/2008-2009-athlete-recipients.html |title=Canadian Athletes Now Fund: Helping Amateur Athletes Achieve their Dreams - 2009-2010 Athlete Recipients |access-date=2010-04-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215005039/http://www.canadianathletesnow.ca/recipients/2008-2009-athlete-recipients.html |archive-date=2010-12-15 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Morrison is married to fellow speed skater [[Josie Morrison|Josie Spence]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Denny Morrison building off 'small victories' as national team trials loom |url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/speedskating/speedskating-denny-morrison-1.4357626 |last=Spencer |first=Donna|work=[[CBC Sports]] |date=October 16, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Near-death experiences have taken a toll on Denny Morrison |url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/speedskating/denny-morrison-near-death-experiences-toll-1.3970896 |last=Ng |first=Callum |work=[[CBC Sports]] |date=February 8, 2017}}</ref>  He survived a debilitating stroke at age 30 following a motorcycle crash a year earlier, and recovered to compete at his fourth Olympics in Korea, 2018.<ref>[http://www.heartandstroke.ca/articles/olympian-denny-morrison-finds-strength-after-stroke Olympian Denny Morrison finds strength after stroke]</ref>
Denny returned to The University of Calgary to complete BSc Psychology with distinction, and First Class Honours BSc Anthropology, before being accepted into The University of Alberta’s Medical program in 2022.

==Records==
===Personal records===
{{PersonalRecordsTop|ref=<ref>{{cite web |url=http://speedskatingresults.com/index.php?p=17&s=573 |title=Denny Morrison |publisher=www.speedskatingresults.com |access-date=June 4, 2014}}</ref>}}
{{PersonalRecordsSport|Men's [[speed skating]]}}
{{PersonalRecordsMiddle|500 m|34.85|December 28, 2007|[[Olympic Oval]], Calgary|}}
{{PersonalRecordsMiddle|1000 m|1:07.11|March 7, 2009|[[Utah Olympic Oval]], Salt Lake City|}}
{{PersonalRecordsMiddle|1500 m|1:42.01|March 14, 2008|Olympic Oval, Calgary|[[World record progression 1500 m speed skating men|World record]] until broken by [[Shani Davis]] on March 6, 2009.<ref name=wre1500 /> Still Canadian record.<ref name=nr />}}
{{PersonalRecordsMiddle|3000 m|3:40.44|September 23, 2017|Olympic Oval, Calgary|}}
{{PersonalRecordsMiddle|5000 m|6:19.91|December 1, 2017|Olympic Oval, Calgary|}}
{{PersonalRecordsMiddle|10000 m|13:41.65|December 31, 2007|Olympic Oval, Calgary|}}
{{PersonalRecordsMiddle|Team Pursuit|3:36.44|December 8th, 2017|[[Utah Olympic Oval]], Salt Lake City|[[List of Canadian records in speed skating|Canadian record]] with [[Benjamin Donnelly]] and [[Ted-Jan Bloemen]]}}
{{PersonalRecordsBottom}}

===World records===
{| class='wikitable'
|-
! Event !! Time !! Date !! Venue
|-
| [[World record progression team pursuit speed skating men|Team pursuit]] || 3:39.69 || November 12, 2005 || align=left | [[Olympic Oval]], Calgary
|-
| Team pursuit || 3:38.31 || March 11, 2007 || align=left | [[Utah Olympic Oval]], Salt Lake City
|-
| [[World record progression 1500 m speed skating men|1500 m]] || 1:42.01 || March 14, 2008 || align=left | Olympic Oval, Calgary
|}
<small>Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com<ref name=stats>{{cite web |title=Denny Morrison |url=http://www.speedskatingstats.com/index.php?file=skater&code=1985090801&item=wr |publisher=www.speedskatingstats.com |access-date=June 4, 2014}}</ref></small>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.speedskating-online.com/dmorrisonjan2009.htm "The ball has just started rolling..." – January 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603084108/http://www.speedskating-online.com/dmorrisonjan2009.htm |date=2015-06-03 }}
* [http://www.speedskating-online.com/morrisonmarch2008.htm Denny Morrison crowns season with world title and world record, March 2008] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820072451/http://www.speedskating-online.com/morrisonmarch2008.htm |date=2008-08-20 }}
* [http://www.speedskating-online.com/morrisonwr1500mmarch08.htm Video of Denny Morrison's world record race in the 1500 m; 1:42.01, March 14, 2008] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220021442/http://www.speedskating-online.com/morrisonwr1500mmarch08.htm |date=February 20, 2014 }}
* [http://www.speedskatingstats.com/index.php?file=skater&code=1985090801 Denny Morrison at SpeedSkatingStats.com]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070310194423/http://www.fotos.desg.de/athletes.php?showAthletes=all&id=572 Photos of Denny Morrison]

{{Footer Olympic Champions Team Pursuit Men}}
{{Footer World Single Distance Champions 1500m Speed Skating Men}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Denny}}
[[Category:1985 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian male speed skaters]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic speed skaters for Canada]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in speed skating]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for Canada]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for Canada]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Canada]]
[[Category:World record setters in speed skating]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Fort St. John, British Columbia]]
[[Category:People from the Peace River Regional District]]
[[Category:Skating people from British Columbia]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian sportsmen]]