Canadians shine in short track world tour opener

By The Canadian Press on October 27, 2024.

MONTREAL – There was a golden finish for Canada during the first stop of the new ISU Short Track World Tour in Montreal, as the men’s 5,000-metre relay team captured gold on Sunday in front of more than 2,500 fans to wrap up an exciting weekend at Maurice-Richard Arena.

The Canadians also collected bronze in the 2,000-metre mixed gender relay earlier in the day, bringing their season total to six medals, including three gold, one silver and two bronze.

The team of Steven Dubois (Lachenaie, Que), William Dandjinou (Montreal), Jordan Pierre-Gilles (Sherbrooke, Que.) and Félix Roussel (Sherbrooke, Que.) dominated the final race of the afternoon, leading the pack for all but two of the 45 laps to finish with a time of 6:49.814, ahead of China (6:50.641) and Netherlands (6:50.774).

It marked a tremendous start to the season for a men’s relay squad that finished last season atop the World Cup rankings, winning three gold and one silver over six events.

Canada also reached the podium in the 2,000-metre mixed gender relay, as Dubois, Roussel, Kim Boutin (Sherbrooke, Que.) and Florence Brunelle (Trois-Rivières, Que.) guided the hometown team to bronze in 2:47.875, behind the Dutch (2:37.874) and Koreans (2:38.031).

Five Canadian skaters – Brunelle, Roussel, Boutin, Rikki Doak and Qi Miao – finished in the top-10 of an individual distance on Sunday.

Reigning national champion Brunelle finished just off the podium in fifth place of the women’s 500 metres, falling victim to an unfortunate collision with a Dutch skater at the entry of the final turn.

Roussel was sixth in the men’s 1,000 metres, while 19-year-old Qi (Blainville, Que.), who was competing in her first senior-level international competition, earned an eighth-place finish behind a loaded field in the women’s 1,500 metres.

Follow the first weekend of World Tour action, Canada sits atop the overall standings for the new ISU Team Crystal Globe with 1,434 points, slightly ahead of Korea (1,324) and the Netherlands (1,217).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2024.

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