Canada takes gold in men’s, women’s relay at ISU World Cup Short Track
Canada took home gold in both the men’s and women’s relay events on Sunday at the ISU World Cup Short Track in Montreal.
The women’s relay team consisting of Courtney Sarault, Florence Brunelle, Danaé Blais, and Renée Marie Steenge finished first in the women’s 3,000m relay with a time of four minutes and 7.935 seconds, finishing just ahead of the United States who finished second behind by 0.013 seconds, and the Netherlands rounded out the podium finishing 0.045 seconds behind.
Shortly after the women claimed gold, Canada’s mens team made up of William Dandjinou, Steven Dubois, Jordan Pierre-Gilles, Pascal Dion and Félix Roussel skated to a gold medal themselves in the 5,000m relay, finishing in a time of 6:55.656, followed by Korea taking silver with a time of 6:55.895, and Japan claiming bronze with a time of 6:58.854.
The Canadian men are the reigning Olympic champions in the event, as Dubois, Pierre-Gilles and Dion joined with Maxime Laoun and retired skater Charles Hamelin to win gold at the Beijing Games in 2022.
Roussel also claimed a silver medal ahead of the relay, finishing the 500m in a time of of 40.895, just 0.02 seconds behind China’s Shaoang Liu, the reigning Olympic champion in the event. Roussel finished ahead of France’s Quentin Fercoq.
Dandjinou finished a chaotic 1,000m-2 race with a bronze medal in the men’s, finishing in a time of 1:26.964, behind Korea’s Kim Gun Woo who took gold in a time of 1:26.712 and Italy’s Luca Spechenhauser who finished in a time of 1:26.774, good enough for silver after jumping to second from last place.
The bronze is Dandjinou’s first individual medal on the World Cup circuit.
Dubois got things started on Saturday, the opening day, as he won Canada’s first medal of the 2023-24 season, finishing second in the men’s 1,000 metres at the Maurice Richard Arena, and then took the victory in the men’s B final for the 1,000m on Sunday.
Rikki Doak narrowly missed the podium in the women’s 500m final with a time of 42.313 on Sunday, just 0.044 seconds back of bronze medallist Martina Valcepina of Italy.
In the men’s 1,500m A-Final, heartbreak hit for Roussel, who crashed into the side boards after losing an edge on a turn before eventually finishing seventh. However, he finished second in his semifinal heat, skating the distance in 2:15.82.
Maxime Laoun was the lone other Canadian to make the men’s 1,500m semifinal before he finished third in the B-Final.
