Charlong wins 500m gold and 1000m bronze at second career World Junior Championships in Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – An exciting array of future talent was on display at the 2026 ISU World Junior Short Track Championships in Salt Lake City this past weekend, including New Brunswick’s Courtney Charlong, who earned 500m gold and 1000m bronze.

Starting third off the line in the women’s 500m, Charlong (Campbellton, N.B.) raced to the front of the pack in the third lap and held on for the victory. Her time of 43.601 placed her ahead of Korea’s Oh Songmi (43.732) and Hungary’s Kira Judit (43.929).

The 19-year-old kicked off the competition by grabbing bronze in the women’s 1000m on Saturday to earn her first career World Junior Championship medal. She also reached the A Final of the women’s 1500m on Sunday, where she finished seventh.

“I’m really happy and proud to have be crowned world junior champion! It was an objective that we identified at the start of the season, and it’s really incredible to have realized it. I wanted to give it my very best at my last World Championships, so I’m pretty happy to have qualified for all three A Finals.”

Courtney Charlong

Charlong continues Canada’s podium streak in the women’s 500m, joining recent world champions Qi Miao (2025) and Florence Brunelle (2022, 2023).

The Campbellton native becomes the first New Brunswick skater to medal in the 500m, something two-time Olympian Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.) never accomplished during her junior career. Her gold medal is also the first for a New Brunswick skater, with Sarault winning two silver and one bronze across her individual distances in 2018 and 2019.

A trio of Canadians also reached the B Final in Salt Lake City, with Alexis Dubuc-Bilodeau finishing second in the men’s 1500m, Myriam Djouaher finishing third in the women’s 500m, and Victor Chartrand fifth in the men’s 500m. Canada also finished fourth overall in the mixed relay, falling just short of the podium.