William Dandjinou and Steven Dubois also earn silver medals at World Tour stop in Chinese capital

BEIJING, CHINA – Danaé Blais earned her first career victory on the international circuit Saturday, bringing home gold in the 1000m at the ISU Short Track World Tour stop in Beijing. William Dandjinou and Steven Dubois also reached the podium during a four-medal day for Canada that also saw the women’s relay squad bring home gold.

Blais (Châteauguay, Que.) held off a stacked field in the 1000m final to capture the first individual distance gold medal of her career. The 25-year-old raced from the front of the pack from the onset, holding off a off a late charge from Dutch skater Xandra Velzeboer (1:29.717) in the final lap to secure the top spot (1:29.678).

“Winning gold is an incredible feeling! The level of competition is extremely elevated this season, so I didn’t really have the feeling that I was going to reach the top this early on. It’s a tremendous feeling knowing that I have what it takes to become the best. I’m excited for the rest of the weekend and the rest of the season.”

Danaé Blais

A pair of bronze medals were awarded following the 1000m race, as Corinne Stoddard of the United States and Choi Minjeong of Korea finished the race with an identical time of 1:29.777. Fellow Canadian Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.), who was making her return to competition following a concussion this fall, finished fifth overall (1:30.215).

The win marked the Blais’ third career individual distance medal, with having also won 1000m silver and 1500m bronze last October in Montreal. Those two podiums, along with consistent performances throughout the season, helped her earn the title of Canada’s Female Short Track Athlete of the Year for 2023-24.

Blais and Sarault later joined teammates Kim Boutin (Sherbrooke, Que.) and Florence Brunelle (Trois-Rivières, Que.) to guide the women’s relay team to their second consecutive gold medal of the season.

The Canadians (4:10.948) finished the 3000m marathon – which had to be restarted after Chinese skater Wang Ye suffered a bad fall with eight laps remaining in the first running – well ahead of their competitors. Korea (4:17.746) and Kazakhstan (4:39.492) rounded out the podium in a race that also saw China and Poland get penalized. The Canadian women now have 260 points after three events, giving them a slight edge over Italy (224) and Korea (220) in the World Tour rankings.

On the men’s side, perennial podium contenders Willam Dandjinou and Steven Dubois both picked up a silver medal during Saturday’s racing.

Dandjinou (Montreal, Que.) earned silver in the 1500m with a time of 2:16.808, finishing narrowly behind Korea’s Park Jiwon 2:16.776 in a race that saw nine different lead changes. Hometown hero Sun Long (2:17.186) rounded out the podium in bronze medal position. Dandjinou has earned a 1500m medal in every event this season and leads the distance standings by 40 points.

Meanwhile, Dubois (Lachenaie, Que.) finished the men’s 500m final in 40.289, sandwiched between Chinese skaters Sun Long (40.155) and Liu Shaoang (40.342) on the podium. It marked the third 500m medal of the season for Dubois, who captured gold and silver on home ice in Montreal. In addition to his medal, the 27-year-old also set a new national record (39.823) in the distance during Friday’s quarterfinal, eclipsing the mark of 39.845 he established six years ago in Calgary.

“Today was a big day and very physically demanding. I decided to rest up during the 1500m B Final to prepare for my 500m. I skated some good times but had an unfortunate slip during the semi-final that put me third on the start line for the finals. Before the race started, my plan was to overtake the second place guy off the start, but the two skaters in front of me worked together to close that gap. I controlled the race from the third position so that I wouldn’t get attacked, before building up some speed and executing a big pass. I was setting myself up for a second pass, but unfortunately lost my footing again. Overall, it was a great final. I was in control of the race and I’m really happy with how things turned out today.”

Steven Dubois

The ISU Short Track World Tour in Beijing concludes tomorrow with the mixed relay, women’s 1500m and 500m, as well as the men’s 1000m and 5000m relay. Races will be live streamed on CBC Sports digital platforms starting at 1:00am ET.

Results

Women’s 1000m

Danaé Blais: 1st
Courtney Sarault: 5th
Florence Brunelle: 18th

Men’s 500m

Steven Dubois: 2nd
William Dandjinou: 6th
Jordan Pierre-Gilles: 7th

Men’s 1500m

William Dandjinou: 2nd
Félix Roussel: 7th
Steven Dubois: 14th

Relay

Women’s: 1st