Canada collected three medals Sunday on the final day of the short track speed skating World Cup stop in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Of that number, two were won in relay events, including gold in the men’s 5,000 metres.
William Dandjinou, Pascal Dion, Maxime Laoun and Jordan Pierre-Gilles combined their efforts to set a time of six minutes 54.891 seconds. They edged the Dutch quartet by 44 thousandths of a second.
“The team is really happy and it really gives us confidence for the end of the season,” noted Dion.
“I especially find it incredible that, despite some disappointments in the individual distance, everyone is able to arrive at the relay focused and with the will to win,” added Dion.
Shortly before, the women’s team of Danaé Blais, Kim Boutin, Courtney Sarault and Renee Marie Steenge helped Canada win silver in the 3000 meters relay.
Their time of 4:13.564 left them about six tenths of a second behind the South Koreans.
“We are happy with our stints this weekend, but the final was a little more difficult. We had a new order and we made a few mistakes, but in general we are very happy with our race! “, analyzed Blais.
“We feel like we’ve improved a lot since the beginning of the year and that’s encouraging. We think it’s really a strength to be able to use our six daughters in lots of different orders. That way, we can use the more rested girls depending on the pace of the individual races,” added Blais.
For the rest, Canada had a day below expectations in the individual events, with only one podium in the four races on the bill.
Silver medalist in the 500 meters on Saturday, Quebecer Steven Dubois again reached the second step of the podium, this time in the 1000 meters.
After posting the best time in the semifinals at 1:24.722, Dubois missed the gold medal by just over two tenths of a second. In the A final, Dubois covered the distance in 1:24.775 and was only beaten by South Korean Park Ji-won (1:24.573).
Leader in the general classification of the discipline, Dion ranked fourth in Final A, in 1:25.562. At the end of the day, Dion retains the top of this ranking, but is only two points ahead of the South Korean.
Among the women, Sarault could not do better than first place in the B Final in the 1,000 meters, and sixth overall, in an event in which she dominated the general classification before the day on Sunday.
After a solid performance in the quarterfinals, the athlete from Moncton, New Brunswick, finished fourth in the first wave of the semifinals, which also featured her teammates Kim Boutin and Claudia Gagnon.
Of the trio, Boutin (1:32.869) was the only one to qualify for Final A. During this final race, Boutin (1:31.781) had to settle for fourth position, 43 thousandths from third place and by German Anna Seidel.
Dutchwoman Suzanne Schulting won Final A, a performance that allowed her to pass Sarault in first place in the general classification of the discipline, with a lead of 40 points.
In the women’s 500 meters, Rikki Doak (44.859) placed sixth in Final A, while Pierre-Gilles led the Canadian delegation in the 500 meters with third place in Final B.
The Canadian short track team concludes the first half of the World Cup season with a total of 25 medals: 11 gold, 10 silver and 4 bronze.
The next competitions for Canadian athletes will take place in February, with World Cup stops in Germany and the Netherlands.
The season will then conclude with the World Championships taking place in Seoul, South Korea, from March 10-12, 2023.