BC speedskater takes bronze in 1,500

Photo: The Canadian Press

Canada's Denny Morrison celebrates as he crosses the finish line in first place with only a few skaters remaining during the 1,500-metre speedskating event at the Sochi Winter Olympics on Feb. 15, 2014. (Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Canadian speedskater Denny Morrison has won a bronze medal in the men's 1,500 metres at the Sochi Olympics.

It's the Fort St. John, B.C., native's second medal of the Games after he won silver in the 1,000.

Morrison finished in one minute 45.22 seconds while Poland's Zbigniew Brodka won gold in 1:45.006. Koen Verweij of the Netherlands missed the gold by a hair, finishing second in 1:45.009.

Both medals were a surprise for Morrison, who wasn't expected to contend for the podium in the individual events.

The 28-year-old finished 11th in the 1,500 at the 2006 Turin Games before settling for ninth four years ago in Vancouver.

But Morrison has since showed signs of improvement in the distance, most notably with a first-place finish at the 2012 world single distances championships.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version said Verweij missed silver by a hair.