Dandjinou strikes gold in 1,000m, Boutin claims first career 500m world championship
William Dandjinou secured another gold for Canada at the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, this time in a photo finish in the men’s 1,000m in Rotterdam on Sunday.
The Montreal native finished just ahead of silver medallist Pietro Sighel of Italy by 0.021 seconds, creating a dramatic ending for the top of the podium.
Dandjinou finished with a time of 1:25.534 seconds, for his first victory in the event since 2023 at the Four Continents short track championships.
Leading at the front of the pack at the beginning of the race, Dandjinou set the pace before both South Korean skaters took the lead with just three laps to go.
However, Hwang Dae-heon was penalized for holding off Park Ji-won which resulted in them both being bumped both off course, allowing Dandjinou to take back the lead.
In the men’s B final, Steven Dubois finished in first, narrowly edged out Liu Shaolin of China, with Dubois finishing in a time of 1:45.557, while Shaolin finished in a time of 1:45.751.
Boutin tops 500m podium for first time in her career
Four-time Olympic medallist Kim Boutin has topped the World Championship podium for the first time in her career.
Despite taking a break from international competition earlier in the season, Boutin showed she can rise to the occasion at the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Leading from start to finish, Boutin raced to a time of 42.626 seconds, ahead of defending champion Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands (42.833) who claimed silver and Kristen Santos-Griswold of the United States (42.929) who claimed bronze.
Boutin had reached the podium in the 500m in 2022, and had claimed eight World Championship medals throughout her career in individual and team distances; but Saturday’s win was the first she struck gold.
She joins Isabelle Charest, Brenda Webster, and Kathleen Vogt as the only Canadian women to be crowned World Champion in the 500m distance.
READ: Boutin banks two silvers in world championships in Montreal
Women’s 3000m relay secures bronze at world championships
On Sunday, Canada’s women’s 3000m relay team secured a bronze medal on Sunday, as Boutin claimed another medal alongside Danae Blais, Rikki Doak and Renée Steenge.
The Dutch women claimed gold in front of their home crowd with a time of 4:07.788, with the United States taking silver with a time of 4:08.061.
Canada had a comfortable distance between themselves and Korea, as the Canadian team finished in a time of 4:12.675, over three seconds ahead.
Jordan Pierre-Gilles takes home World Championship bronze in 500m
On the men’s side, Jordan Pierre-Gilles raced to his first World Championship medal in the 500m.
In an eventful race, three of the five skaters took a fall as Pierre-Gilles was able to recover the quickest to skate into third place nearly 11 seconds behind the second-place finsher.
Pierre-Gilles and teammate Steven Dubois were the first to go down, and it looked as though Italy’s Pietro Sighel had the bronze in check until he took a dive on the final corner.
Dubois finished one spot behind in fourth.
Xiaojun Lin of China claimed the championship title as he finished in first place, while Denis Nikisha finished in second.
Elsewhere in the women’s 1500m, Courtney Sarault skated to fifth.
The World Championships will continue from Rotterdam with the men’s and women’s 1000m and all three relay races.
