Sherbrooke’s Kim Boutin won a silver medal that made her happy and another that took a moment to digest on the first day of the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, presented at the Maurice-Richard Arena .
Boutin, a four-time Olympic medalist, finished second in the 1,500-metre and 500-metre finals on Saturday. On the men’s side, Montrealer Pascal Dion won silver in the 1,500 metres.
Best known for her power in the 500 meters, Boutin won her first career medal at the Worlds in this distance. And after not running 1,500 meters during the season, she finally got her hands on a third career medal at Worlds in that distance.
Always looking to surpass himself, Boutin admitted that the two silver medals did not have the same flavor.
“For the 500, it’s more difficult (to digest), but for the other distances, a second place is good,” noted the 27-year-old skater.
In the 500m final, Boutin was unable to resist the onslaught of Dutch Xandra Velzeboer. Yara van Kerkhof of the Netherlands won the bronze, ahead of Montreal’s Alyson Charles.
Earlier, in the 1,500 meters final, Boutin finished between South Koreans Choi Minjeong and Seo Whimin. New Brunswick’s Courtney Sarault finished fourth.
“A fourth place hurts more than a participation in the B final because the podium seems close,” said Sarault, who was trying to overcome this small disappointment.
“I think I had the legs to do it if I had skated with more confidence. […] Still, a fourth place is good. »
Boutin finds himself at the top of the general classification after the presentation of two of the three individual events.
Choi, three-time world champion, was content with fifth place in the 500 meters and she is three points behind Boutin in the cumulative standings with 39 points, against 42 for the “Fusée de Sherbrooke”.
They will therefore be decided on Sunday, with the presentation of the 1000 meter finals, then the 3000 meter super final.
“I focus on my race. If I finish first, so much the better, I’ll be happy. But I’m taking it one step at a time,” Boutin said.
Sarault and Charles both have eight points on the clock and share sixth place. The top eight skaters in the standings after the 1,000 meters will advance to the super final.
Dion confirms his place
Second in the World Cup standings this fall, Dion confirmed his place among the elite with his second place in the 1,500 meters and a fifth place in the 500 meters.
Dion stayed in the lead group throughout the 1,500 meter final. However, he was unable to respond to Hungarian Liu Shaoang’s attack with three laps to go.
Liu and Dion were accompanied on the podium by the Belgian Stijn Desmet.
Dion then won the B final in the 500 meters and tied for second overall with Desmet. The latter also won bronze in the 500 meters, behind Liu and the French Quentin Fercoq.
“I had such a good season, I knew I was capable of good things,” Dion said. I was a little unlucky at the Olympics, but it feels good to prove that the season I had was not lucky. I really have my place among the best. »
Liu, the reigning world champion, has a comfortable 42-point lead over Dion and Desmet in the cumulative standings.
Steven Dubois, triple medalist at the Beijing Games, had a more difficult day. He suffered a fall in the 1500m semi-finals and was never able to win the 500m semi-finals and B-final.
“I’m more disappointed because these are three races where there was nothing to do,” admitted Dubois, who is from Terrebonne.
He is tied for ninth in the overall standings with two points.
Sherbrooke’s Jordan Pierre-Gilles finished fourth in the B final in the 1500 meters and was eliminated in the 500 meters semi-finals.
Dress rehearsal for Hamelin
Canada’s women’s and men’s relay teams have earned their ticket to the finals.
In both cases, the Canadian teams took second place in their semi-finals without having to push too hard.
Veteran Charles Hamelin is part of the men’s team. The one who will celebrate his 38and birthday on April 14 will be on his last lap on Sunday and he received a warm welcome from the spectators.
“It’s been a really long time since we’ve had encouragement like this with spectators in the stands. It was magic, underlined Hamelin. I had chills while skating, then I got back into my bubble to finish the race well. »
Hamelin preferred to focus on the relay in his last competition after a career that began in 2003 on the World Cup circuit.
“The future of short track is the young people who are there — Jo (Pierre-Gilles), Steven (Dubois), Pascal (Dion) and Max (Laoun). I wanted to give them the chance to experience a World Cup in single distances,” mentioned Hamelin.
Hamelin will have the opportunity to win a 38and medal in the world championship in his last career race on Sunday.