Kim Boutin and Steven Dubois were among the stars of the day on Saturday at the Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Dordrecht, Netherlands. The two athletes from La Belle Province won the 1000m, each winning a gold medal.
Boutin was the first to achieve the feat at the start of the day. This is her first medal in the 1000m this season. To get there, the Quebecer beat American Kristen Santos-Griswold by 57 thousandths of a second. The Dutch Xandra Velzeboer completed the podium (+0.161 s).
“Everything went really well today (Saturday). My goal was definitely to go for the gold medal. I’ve been trying since the start of the season to refine my overtaking. This work paid off in the final when I overtook the American in the last two laps to go for the gold,” rejoiced Boutin in an interview with Sportcom.
“The way I started the season, I wasn’t sure I would be able to go for gold in the 1000m this year, but I’m really happy to have achieved the feat. It feels really good,” she added.
Danaé Blais participated in the first 1000m final of her career. She finished in fourth place. “It’s always fun to be several Canadians in the final. I know that she was very happy and excited to experience a first final in the 1000m and she was very close to a place on the podium,” said Kim Boutin.
For her part, Claudia Gagnon won the B final of the 1500m ahead of Chinese Li Gong and her teammate Rikki Doak.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ISU SPEED SKATING
Steven Dubois (center) and Pascal Dion (right)
Moments later, Steven Dubois and Pascal Dion seemed inspired by Boutin’s performance. Also taking part in the 1000m final, the two Quebecers took the lead in the race from the start and were never really bothered.
Dubois crossed the finish line 0.127s ahead of Dion. Latvian Roberts Kruzbergs (+0.150s) finished in third place.
“I started fifth and I knew it was going to go fast. I saw Pascal (Dion) go strong from the start and I was able to get behind him. We wanted to ensure our places on the podium, I saw the opportunity to overtake with four laps to go and I capitalized. Pascal was solid to protect his second place for the rest”, mentioned Dubois.
With this victory, Steven Dubois gets his hands on the first gold medal of his career in the 1000m, a result he has been waiting for a long time.
“I had never won gold anywhere other than the 500m individually. I’m really happy, it was a goal I had been setting myself for quite a while. I wanted to learn how to win this year, my learning process is working well and I continue to improve. »
Dubois and Dion will be back in action on Sunday for another 1000m where they will hope to be able to repeat their exploits of the day.
“At the start of the week, Pascal and I said to ourselves that we wanted to finish first and second for the two races in the 1000m, half of the objective has been reached, we will continue that tomorrow (Sunday)”, he concluded.
Félix Roussel finished third in the B final in the 1000m.
In the 1500m, William Dandjinou and Maxime Laoun respectively finished second and third in the B final. They were overtaken by Dutchman Friso Emons.
Silver in the mixed relay
Jordan Pierre-Gilles and William Dandjinou were also in action in a final on Saturday in Dordrecht. The Quebecers joined forces with New Brunswickers Courtney Sarault and Rikki Doak in the mixed relay to take the silver medal.
The Canadians and the Dutch were neck and neck for most of the race, often trading first place. In the end, it was the Dutch who took the top honors.
The Polish team finished in third place.
Kim Boutin and Maxime Laoun also received a silver medal since they skated in the mixed relay in the semi-finals.
The Dordrecht World Cup, the last stage before the presentation of the World Championships, will conclude on Sunday.