Laval natives dominate competition on home ice to secure their spot on international junior circuit
LAVAL, QUÉBEC – Laval natives Mathieu Pelletier and Victoria Jean-Baptiste used home ice to their advantage this past weekend, dominating their respective fields of 40 skaters to capture the overall national titles at the 2024 Canadian Junior Short Track Championships presented by Intact Insurance, which were hosted at Place Bell.
Pelletier (Laval, Que.), who participated in three senior World Cups during the 2022-23 season, won gold in all six distances to finish atop the standings with 20,000 points, earning him his first career national junior crown.
Mathieu Pelletier“I am very happy with my performances. It was a very tough competition and I didn’t have the legs I’m use to, making it a challenge but also a preparation opportunity for the World Championships. I am ready for what’s next, for Bormio and Calgary. It was pretty cool when we saw these championships would be hosted in Laval at the start of the season. We had three guys from Laval that grew up skating together and shared the podium in quite a few distances this weekend, which made things even more special.”
Last season’s champion, Gabriel Jones (Deux-Montagnes, Qué.), was second overall with 15,200 points after earning three silver and two bronze medals. His results were slightly better than Laval’s Victor Chartrand (14,400 points), who captured two silver and two bronze, finishing third overall.
Medalists on the men’s side included Pelletier (6), Jones (5), Chartrand (4), Alexis Bilodeau-Dubuc (1), Alexandre Hébert (1) and Leonard Lapalme (1).
Jean-Baptiste (Laval, Que.), who captured bronze in the 500m at last season’s World Championships in Gdansk, was nearly just as dominant on the women’s side, winning five total medals, including gold in both 500m and 1500m races, as well as silver in the 1000m-1. She finished the competition with 20,000 points in her top four distances to claim the overall title, ahead of Quebec’s Emmanuelle Leclerc (17,200 points) and New Brunswick’s Courtney Charlong (15,200 points).
Victoria Jean-Baptiste“I feel very excited! In addition to bringing home the plaque for overall champion, this was also the first time that I completed all the distances and qualified for A Finals, which was a nice feeling. I am ready for the World Cup circuit in Bormio, and am really happy with the group of skaters that will be representing Canada at those events. »
Leclerc (Lac-au-Saumon, Que.) was the only other gold medal winner on the women’s side, claiming the top spot in both 1000m races. The list of female medalists included Jean-Baptiste (5), Leclerc (4), Charlong (4), Mila Boivin (3), Myriam Djouaher (1) and Mikka Eaves (1).
The results from the 2024 Canadian Junior Short Track Championships presented by Intact Insurance will be used to select the five women and five men who will compete on the ISU Junior World Cup Short Track circuit this season, a list that will be unveiled in the coming weeks. The international circuit will make two stops in Bormio, Italy, this November 8-10 and November 14-16, before traveling to Quebec City from February 21-23, 2025.
Results from ISU Junior World Cups will be used to determine which skaters will represent Canada on home ice at the ISU Junior World Short Track Championships in Calgary, which will be hosted at the Olympic Oval from February 27 to March 2, 2025.