Canada earns five medals at short-track speedskating World Cup in Seoul

By The Canadian Press on December 14, 2024.

William Dandjinou of Canada, left, and Park Jiwon of South Korea fall after crossing the finishing line during the men's 1,500-meter final at the ISU World Tour Short Track Speed Skating held at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Andy Wong

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of – William Dandjinou, Steven Dubois and Canada’s women’s relay squad all earned gold medals on Saturday at a short-track speedskating World Cup.

Danaé Blais and Jordan Pierre-Gilles were also silver medallists, adding to the podium results for Canada.

Blais skated alongside Florence Brunelle, Courtney Sarault, and Kim Boutin to capture the Canadian team’s third consecutive victory on the World Tour circuit in the women’s relay.

Montreal’s Dandjinou won the men’s 1,500 metres in a packed final with eight skaters.

Dubois, from Terrebonne, Que., reached the top of the podium in the men’s 500-metre final later in the day, with Piette-Gilles of Sherbrooke, Que., second in that race.

Blais, from Chateauguay, Que., earned silver in the women’s 1,000 metres, a week after earning gold in the same event.

Dandjinou manoeuvred his way to the front of the pack with five laps remaining. He did not relinquish the lead from that point forward, crossing the line in two minutes 14.313 seconds to take the gold medal.

Dubois initially posted the second fastest time of the final, but he was penalized for an inside pass upon review by the officials. That opened the door for Korea’s Park Jiwon (+0.43) and Jens van t’Wout of the Netherlands (+0.57) to take silver and bronze, respectively.

Dubois made up for that in the 500.

Starting from the second position, he jumped into the lead off the line and held the position to win in 41.681 seconds. Pierre-Gilles joined Dubois on the podium in silver medal position (+0.08) after outstretching Latvian Roberts Kruzbergs (+0.12) at the finish line.

“I am really happy about my performance today. It feels good getting back onto the podium, particularly with Steven,” said Pierre-Gilles. “Always an incredible moment sharing the podium with a teammate and friend.

“Really happy how I managed to accomplish that today.”

In women’s action, Blais stormed to the front of the pack in the first lap of the 1,000-metre final. She maintained the leader’s position until the final lap, when she was passed by Korean skater Kim Gilli. Blais crossed the line 0.13 seconds behind the reigning Crystal Globe champion’s time of 1:30.884 to capture the silver medal. Choi Minjeong of Korea was third (+0.17).

The final medal race on Saturday featured five strong teams in the women’s relay. Canada’s time of 4:11.634 placed the Ice Maples comfortably ahead of the Italian Gladiators (+0.15) and the Korean White Tigers (+0.22).

“It was an incredible day,” said Blais. “I skated with a lot of confidence. Winning a medal in Beijing last weekend really put me in the right mindset and I knew I had what it takes to win races.

“It’s one thing to win a medal, but it’s an entirely different game repeating that type of performance.”

Dandjinou remains atop the overall Crystal Globe standings with 812 points, 286 ahead of his closest competitor, Park Jiwon of South Korea. Blais is the top Canadian female in seventh position overall, while the Ice Maples maintain their stronghold as front-runners in the team Crystal Globe ranking with an 882-point lead on the second-place Korean White Tigers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2024.