MONTREAL — 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 on Saturday 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 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.
Canada also captured three medals in individual distances on Saturday.
Dandjinou (Montreal, Que.) opened the day by repeating as the men’s 1,500-metres 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).
The medal haul continued for the Canadian men, as Dandjinou and Steven Dubois both reached the podium in the men’s 500-metres final 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, 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 collect silver (41.183), ahead of Pietro Sighel of Italy (41.354).
In other men’s results, Félix Roussel (Sherbrooke, Que.) finished third in the 1,500-metres 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 500-metres 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 1,000-metres B Final, where they finished second (1:33.124) and third (1:33.138), respectively.
Montreal is hosting a World Tour competition for the second straight week after the International Skating Union relocated this weekend's event from Salt Lake City.
The ISU cancelled the event in Salt Lake City because of compliance issues with the ice-level safety padding at the Utah Olympic Oval.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2024.
The Canadian Press
