Excellent performances from the Canadian women’s and men’s relay teams made up for a more difficult Saturday at the Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Montreal on Sunday, as both quartets won gold medals.
At the individual level, Félix Roussel was silver medalist in the 500 m and William Dandjinou took bronze in the 1000 m.
• Also read: Steven Dubois makes it from the repechage run to second place on the podium
Dandjijou was also on the ice in the men’s season finale with Jordan Pierre-Gilles, Pascal Dion and Steven Dubois. The four Canadians present in the final were Danaé Blais, Florence Brunelle, Courtney Sarault and Renee Marie Steenge.
Roussel heats up the Olympic champion
Félix Roussel made life difficult for Chinese 500m Olympic champion Liu Shaolang in the final of this distance. This second individual World Cup medal in his career tasted much better than the first, the Sherbrooke resident confirmed after the race.
“I couldn’t have done it better today! The reigning Olympic champion was ahead of me and I beat the rest. I just told myself to have fun because once you get to the final anything can happen. It was disappointing to fall yesterday (Saturday) when I was trying to win and in a good position to win a medal. I was a little more conservative, but I gave it my all in the last lap. »
When he received his medal, we could see banners that read “Go Félix” and “Go Jo” (for Jordan Pierre-Gilles). This will also have an impact in the men’s season finale in the late afternoon.
The revelation of the recent Canadian Championships: William Dandjinou held his head in both hands after crossing the finish line in third place in the 1000m, where two South Koreans fell in front of him, opening the door for Italy’s Luca Spechenhauser to steal second place in the Kim Gun Woo from South Korea won the event.
“I wanted to win this race, so third place wasn’t what I wanted. But when I look at the bigger picture, it’s a big step forward for me and I’m learning a lot, so I’m just happy. »
While he continued to answer questions from journalists a little later, Dandjinou wanted to highlight his teammates’ contribution to his individual success.
“I learned a lot from the three boys (Pierre-Gilles, Dion and Dubois), but also from Maxime (Laoun) and Charles (Hamelin) over time. Behind every single medal is the rest of the team who are there and support him. »
In the B final, Steven Dubois took first place and Pascal Dion fifth, which was enough for fifth and ninth place in the final standings.
Golden relays
The Canadians have dominated the relays for almost three years. With five laps to go, it was Steven Dubois who put his team into the lead, and his teammates were able to finish things off well.
“As the Koreans said after the race, I’m like a wild card: I can play in any position… just like everyone on the team.” “That’s what destabilizes the other teams: we’re so versatile that we can get out of there , as we want,” admitted the main actor.
“The season started well. We are extremely confident. We have a lot of options and I think the coaches have a lot of fun determining the order of the season and seeing the possibilities,” confirms Jordan Pierre-Gilles.
Pascal Dion believes this experience will be useful in tackling the race in which his team’s victory against the formidable South Koreans was far from certain.
“The beauty is that we are able to remain calm no matter what situation we find ourselves in. In the last three years we have found ourselves in all kinds of situations and we have always managed to get out of them. That’s what makes other teams chew their fingers a little and find ways to beat us. »
A first women’s medal
The victory in the Canadian women’s 3000-meter relay was a relief for the national team figure skaters, who were denied a podium place in the individual events of this first part of the World Cup. Danaé Blais, Florence Brunelle, Courtney Sarault and Renee Marie Steenge were able to prevail against the Dutch and the winning team was only determined in the photo finish.
It was Blais who was tasked with being her team’s final torchbearer, as she had done the day before in the semifinals.
“I still had a little pressure, a final is stressful, we want to win, but I also had the confidence that my team and I have what it takes to win today,” admitted the athlete from Châteauguay.
“It’s unbelievable and I don’t even know how to describe this feeling! It remains an individual sport, but we still train together every day like a family. And to win that at the end of the day is an incredible feeling and I think it’s nice that we can put our bad races aside to come together for the relay and do our best. This is one of our strengths as a team and it’s great! »
The head coach of the Canadian team, Sébastien Cros, wants to reshuffle the cards in the orders of his women’s and men’s relays and try out different combinations.
“The athletes who finished, it was a first for them. The idea is to develop more athletes capable of this position. This time it was a success and even better. For Danaé we started working on it and it worked more or less well. There had been some good things, but she wasn’t quite ready. This year we are trying it and she will develop this further. »
In the B final over 1000 m, Claudia Gagnon and Danaé Blais took second and third place, placing them seventh and eighth in the final ranking over the distance.
The second stage of the World Cup will take place next weekend in the Maurice Richard Arena.
Other Quebec results of the day:
17th – Florence Brunelle, 500m;
18th – Jordan Pierre-Gilles, 500m;
26th – Maxime Laoun, 500 m.