Canadian Alex Boisvert-Lacroix has gone where precious few speed skaters venture in his chosen distance, to the top step of the podium in back-to-back World Cups.

The 500-metre specialist from Sherbrooke, Que., sprinted to a gold medal in Calgary last week and followed it up Friday with another victory in Salt Lake City.

The accomplishment is so rare that the 30-year-old was still on “a crazy cloud” as he put it, several hours after the win.

“It’s a very, very tight distance,” he said. “Every day is a new winner or new guys on the podium. I think the last guy to do this, back-to-back wins, was Pavel Kulizhnikov, who holds the world record.

“So it’s nice to be in the same league as him, I guess. He’s considered to be one of the best skaters in the 500 in history, so I guess I have to look at what he did and what I can do and be happy.”

Russia’s Kulizhnikov holds the world record for the 500-metres at 33.98 seconds, and set it on the same ice in Salt Lake City in 2015. In winning Friday, Boisvert-Lacroix lowered his personal best to 34.15 seconds.

“The ice is crazy fast here,” he said. “I felt very good in my warm-up, getting ready for my race. I knew I could do something great today. As soon as I did my warm-up I told myself today is a P.B. day. I have the legs for it. That’s what I did.

“As soon as I crossed the line, I saw my time. I didn’t know I was first, because I don’t pay attention to the other guys who skate before me. I just screamed the loudest I could. I was just so happy to have this huge P.B.

“My best time before was 34.30. To bring it down to 34.15, it’s like oh my God, yes. That’s what I wanted.”

The long track World Cup season takes a long break after this event, and everyone will focus on the Olympics, where he is now very much a medal threat. He didn’t want to look that far down the road, however.

“Before we talk about the Olympics, I’m not qualified yet. We will see tomorrow, the World Cup ranking. If I am top five, I am pre-qualified. But there is one more race, another 500-metre to do tomorrow.

“I feel ready for tomorrow. I have good legs. I know I can do well. But right now I want to keep the thoughts about the Olympics away because I have one more race to do.”

dbarnes@postmedia.com