Steven Dubois golden in 500m; William Dandjinou earns 1500m gold and 500m silver
MONTREAL, QUEBEC – A focus on teamwork – in both individual distances and in the relay – helped Canada’s short track squad capture four medals, including three gold, on home ice during the second stop of the ISU Short Track World Tour in Montreal.
The women’s relay team of Kim Boutin (Sherbrooke, Que.), Danaé Blais (Châteauguay, Que.), Florence Brunelle (Trois-Rivières, Que.) and Rikki Doak (Fredericton, N.B.) earned a hard-fought gold medal, finishing the 27-lap marathon with a time of 4:07.841. They were joined on the podium by Italy (4:08.112) and China (4:09.376).
The Canadian quartet showed resilience, refocusing following a disastrous fall in the semifinal that almost put them out of medal contention. Fortunately for the hometown team, they were advanced to the A Final after Poland was penalized during that same race.
In the loaded A Final, Brunelle passed both an Italian and Korean skater during her final leg, giving Canada the lead with three laps remaining, before propelling Boutin into the final sprint to the finish. It was redemption of sorts for Brunelle, who was on the receiving end of a controversial penalty in last weekend’s 3000m relay, one that pushed the Canadians off the podium despite finishing the race in first.
Canada also captured three medals in individual distances on Saturday.
Dandjinou (Montreal, Que.) kicked off the day by repeating as the men’s 1500m winner, earning a first-place finish in the longest distance for the second consecutive weekend. The current Crystal Globe points leader posted a time of 2:17.138, placing him ahead of Latvia’s Robert Kruzbergs (2:17.246) and Italy’s Sighel (2:17.364), much to the delight of the hometown crowd.
The medal haul continued for the Canadian men, as Dandjinou and Steven Dubois both reached the podium in the men’s 500m for the second consecutive weekend, albeit in the different order.
Starting in the inner most lane, Dubois (Lachenaie, Que.) blasted off the line to grab an early lead which he never relinquished, capturing gold with a time of 41.124. Behind him, his teammate Dandjinou skated a defensive pattern, varying his speed and corner entries to keep the rest of the field on edge, before accelerating in the final lap to bring home silver (41.183), ahead of Pietro Sighel of Italy (41.354).
In other men’s results, Félix Roussel (Sherbrooke, Que.) finished third in the 1500m B Final with a time of 2:28.533, ranking him 10th overall in the distance, while Jordan Pierre-Gilles (Sherbrooke, Que.) was penalized in the 500m B Final, working his way through the morning repechage to also finish 10th.
Blais (Châteauguay, Que.) and Brunelle (Trois-Rivières, Que.) were the only two women to compete in an individual distance on Saturday, taking part in the 1000m B Final, where they finished second (1:33.124) and third (1:33.138), respectively.
The second ISU Short Track World Tour event in Montreal concludes Sunday at the Maurice Richard Arena, where medals will be awarded in the women’s 500m and 1000m, men’s 1000m and 5000m relay, as well as the 2000m mixed relay. Tickets are available at www.courtepiste.ca and races will be live streamed on CBC Sports digital platforms.
Quotes
Florence Brunelle“It was a big relay for me, but also a big relay for everyone else, because these are truly team events. After the penalty that advanced us into the A Final, I think all the girls were all very happy to have a shot at a medal, because we know that we belong amongst the best. We were aiming for first place, and we know we have a team that can do it. Going into the final, we weren’t scared of anything. We raced intelligently and that helped us finish the day with a gold medal.”
Steven Dubois“I think it was a well planned and well executed race. There was definitely a bit of doubt before the final as I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to approach it. It happens quite often that I start the 500m final in first position, so I decided my strategy would be to get off to an explosive start. I knew the other guys would get tangled up off the start, so I slowed down a bit, which opened the door for Will [Dandjinou]. We found ourselves in first and second place, and we were in business! From that point on, it was simply a matter of racing calmly and not making any errors, because Will is really good at making passes and capitalizing on that sort of thing.”
Results
500m
- Steven Dubois: 1st
- Willam Dandjinou: 2nd
- Jordan Pierre-Gilles: 10th
1000m
- Danaé Blais: 7th
- Florence Brunelle: 8th
1500m
- William Dandjinou: 1st
- Félix Roussel: 10th
- Steven Dubois: 19th
Relays
- Women’s: 1st