Felix Roussel of Canada, front, skates ahead of Denis Nikisha of Kazakhstan during the 500-metre quarter-final race at the ISU World Cup Short Track Speedskating event in Montreal, Sunday, October 22, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
MONTREAL – Canada added two individual medals Sunday in the first ISU World Cup short-track speedskating event of the season.
Felix Roussel of Sherbrooke, Que., won silver in the men’s 500-metre race, finishing half a skate blade behind reigning Olympic champion Liu Shaoang of China. French skater Quentin Fercoq took bronze.
It was Roussel’s first time reaching second on the podium in an individual World Cup event.
Montreal’s William Dandjinou, the Canadian national champion, added to Canada’s medal count with a bronze in the second men’s 1,000-metre event of the weekend, earning the first individual World Cup podium of his career. South Korea’s Gun Woo Kim captured gold and Italy’s Luca Spechenhauser won silver.
Both Canadian relay teams were to compete in their respective finals to end the day on Sunday. The Canadian men came first in the 5,000-metre semifinals Saturday, while the women were first in their 3,000-metre semifinal heat.
Three-time Olympic medallist Steven Dubois was the only Canadian to earn some hardware on Saturday with a silver medal in the first men’s 1,000-metre event.
Dubois, of Lachenaie, Que., was one of 12 Canadian skaters in the event as 33 countries and 184 athletes arrived in Montreal for the first two World Cup events this season. Skaters will return to Maurice Richard Arena next weekend for the second competition.
Some Canadian skaters will then take part in a third straight competition at home as Laval, Que., hosts the Four Continents speedskating Championships from Nov. 3 to 5 at Place Bell.
Canada came close to finding the podium on two other occasions Sunday.
Fredericton’s Rikki Doak missed it by inches with a fourth-place finish in the women’s 500-metre A final.
Canadian champion Courtney Sarault of Moncton, N.B., then came fourth in the women’s 1,000-metre A final.
Dubois and Montreal’s Pascal Dion came first and fifth respectively in the men’s 1,000-metre B final on Sunday.
Claudia Gagnon of Labaie, Que., and Danaé Blais of Châteauguay, Que., finished second and third in the women’s 1,000-metre B final.
Renée Steenge of Brampton, Ont., and Florence Brunelle of La Baie fell out in the women’s 500-metre quarterfinals.
Jordan Pierre-Gilles of Sherbrooke, Que., was knocked out in the men’s 500-metre quarterfinals due to a penalty after making contact with another skater.
Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands captured gold in the women’s 500-metre and South Korea’s Gilli Kim topped the podium in the women’s 1,000-metre.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2023.
