Canada's most decorated Olympic athlete will be out of action when the speed skating World Cup season begins next week.

Cindy Klassen, winner of five medals at the 2006 Torino Games and another at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, said Friday she needs a break and won't compete on the World Cup circuit until January.

Cindy Klassen won a gold medal, two silver and two bronze at the Torino Olympics last February.
(Matt Dunham/Associated Press)

"The big picture is getting ready for 2010," Klassen said Friday from Canmore, Alta. "I just kind of needed to get away from skating for a little bit and get kind of a mental break."

Klassen, 27, moved this week to Canmore, where she is cross-training under the supervision of coach Neal Marshall, from Calgary. Part of her workout includes hitting the trails with Canada's cross-country ski team at the Nordic Centre.

"We chose skiing because I'll be using the same leg muscles as I would in skating," Klassen said. "It's going to be a different kind of training too and I think, mentally, that is good."

World Cup event

The first speed skating World Cup event takes place next week in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.

Klassen admitted it will feel strange not to be there with her teammates, but thinks her absence from the competitive track will make her heart grow fonder.

"I remember when I cut my arm a few years ago and I couldn't race and my team went off to the fall World Cups, I missed them like crazy," she said. "I'm sure that's going to happen again and when I came back last time, I just felt like I was on fire."

Klassen plans to return to Calgary at the end of November to resume her on-ice training at the Olympic Oval.

It will be extremely difficult for Klassen, the world record holder in the 1,000, 1,500 and 3,000 metres, to defend her overall World Cup title if she misses races, but she said that was not her focus this season.

Instead, she is aiming to be in top form for the world championships in March in Salt Lake City and building toward the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

For now, she's taking it relatively easy, as shown by her recent cameo on the Canadian television series Corner Gas.

"The cast was really funny and really nice people," Klassen said. "It was great to be on the set and see what a day in their life is like.

"It's been an incredible spring and summer just doing things I regularly wouldn't do."

With files from Canadian Press