Danaé Blais and Steven Dubois capture silver and bronze in individual distances; Canada wins silver in men’s relay

MONTREAL, QUEBEC – Canadian skaters wrapped up the final day of the ISU World Cup Short Track in Montreal by winning three additional medals – silver in the women’s 1000m and men’s 5000m relay, as well as bronze in the men’s 1500m – to cap off a successful weekend of competition that saw them earn seven total medals.

Danaé Blais (Châteauguay, Que.) won her second medal of the competition, racing to a silver in the women’s 1000m. She finished the race with a final time of 1:31.471, just behind Whimin Seo of Korea (1:31.288), with Korea’s Jiyun Park taking the bronze (1:31.505). The 24-year old also won 1500m bronze on Saturday, which was the first individual distance medal of her career.

Steven Dubois (Terrebonne, Que.) picked up his first medal of the weekend in the 1500m after consistent performances throughout his qualifying races. He took home the bronze with a time of 2:20.575, with Korean skaters Gun Woo Kim (2:20.294) taking the gold and Ji Won Park (2:20.406) the silver. Teammate Pascal Dion (Montreal, Que.) narrowly missed the podium, finishing in fourth-place in the distance with a time of 2:20.731.

Fans at the Maurice Richard Arena were treated to a pair of exciting relay finals to close out the second consecutive World Cup in Montreal.

The men’s relay team comprised of Dubois, William Dandjinou (Montreal, Que.), Jordan Pierre-Gilles (Sherbrooke, Que.) and Félix Roussel (Sherbrooke, Que.) raced their way to a silver medal, finishing the race with a time of 7:03.875. The Korean team, who finished third, received a penalty for obstruction from an inactive skater after making contact with a Canadian skater during an exchange, which moved Kazakhstan (7:05.352) into the bronze medal position. China (7:03.468) stood atop the podium in gold medal position.

Things were equally as hectic in the women’s 3000m relay final, where three of the four teams fell at different moments during the 27-lap race. After a lengthy video review, the Canadians were assessed a penalty, which helped confirm a win for Korea (4:12.133), who were joined on the podium by the Netherlands (4:20.607) and United States (4:21.594).

The international short track season continues next weekend with the ISU Four Continents Short Track Championships in Laval, Que. from November 4-5, 2023. Races will be live streamed on CBC Sports and Radio-Canada Sports digital platforms.

Quotes

“I fell like I’m in a dream! The first weekend, my objective was to win a medal. While I came close, I was a bit disappointed. This weekend, I was a little tired and didn’t feel super well. I had the impression it wouldn’t happen this weekend either, but it turned out amazing!”

Danaé Blais

“Today, I went for the win as well. I knew my pass was a dangerous move, but it was a risk I was taking to try and get the win. I really felt I had the legs to get there. I think I’ve been pretty good [so far this season]. I’m showing that that I can be in contention for the win, and I definitely raced for it today. I’m not going to give up my spot that easily, as you saw in the finals yesterday.”

Steven Dubois

Results

1000m

Danaé Blais: 2nd
Rikki Doak: 8th
Claudia Gagnon: 9th
Maxime Laoun: 9th
William Dandjinou: 19th
Félix Roussel: 20th

1500m-2

Courtney Sarault: 7th
Florence Brunelle: 18th
Renee Steenge: 22nd
Steven Dubois: 3rd
Pascal Dion: 4th
Jordan Pierre-Gilles: 16th

Relays

Men’s: 2nd
Women’s: 4th