Canada began the Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Gdansk on Saturday with a haul of four medals: one gold, one silver and two bronze.
Montreal’s Pascal Dion found himself on the top step of the podium after the men’s 1,500 meters with his first victory of the World Cup season in an individual event.
His time of two minutes 16.060 seconds put him ahead of South Korean Jang Sungwoo (2:16.087) and Dutchman Friso Emons (2:16.178).
“I am very happy with my race! Lots of action and overtaking. I managed my energy really well,” analyzed Dion.
In the 500 meters, his fellow Quebecer Steven Dubois raced to the silver medal in 41.467 seconds after winning all his races in the previous rounds.
The skater from Terrebonne was accompanied on the podium by the South Korean Seo Yi Ra, who finished first (41.451), and the Polish Lukasz Kucynski, third (41.875).
In the women’s 500 meters event, Sherbrooke’s Kim Boutin got her hands on her first individual medal of the World Cup season by winning bronze. She clocked 43.190 seconds in the final, finishing just behind Dutchwoman Selma Poutsma (43.033) and Belgian Hanne Desmet (43.046).
“It feels good to be back on the podium,” admitted Boutin.
“I had a lot of fun running and especially getting a medal in the mixed relay! We had some great races and we want to return there more often, on this famous podium. »
The Canadian team, for its part, raced towards the bronze medal in the mixed relay (2:41.469) after having produced solid performances in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The Netherlands won (2:40.74) while South Korea finished second (2:41.35).