(Montreal) Canada’s Courtney Sarault captured the silver medal in the 1,500m curtain-raiser of the short track speed skating World Cup season on Saturday in Beijing.
Sarault of Moncton completed the distance in the final in two minutes and 22.167 seconds. She was edged by South Korean Lee Yu-bin (2: 21.833), but defeated American Kristen Santos (2: 22.176) at the finish line.
“I tried to regain my feelings and, by finishing second in my semi-final – I wasn’t expecting that – it gave me a little confidence in my abilities. Then I decided to have fun and get to the front of the field in the final, just to see where I was compared to the other girls. And it paid off, ”said the 21-year-old skater.
Her compatriot, Quebecker Kim Boutin, settled for fifth place in 2: 25.388.
On the male side, things turned out to be a bit more difficult.
Quebecers Charles Hamelin and Steven Dubois finished fourth and fifth in the B final over 1500m, respectively.
“I missed guts in the B final, admitted Hamelin, from Sainte-Julie. I should have gotten to the front of the peloton faster to be able to set my pace. I think I could have won that race. So I have a little bit of work to catch up on, but at the same time I know it’s not that much. “
PHOTO WANG ZHAO, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
Charles Hamelin
The 37-year-old veteran believes he has identified areas of his skating that need improvement in anticipation of the next World Cup stopover in Nagoya, Japan next weekend.
“I would like to stay more alert with each race, not place myself on the cruise control. It is under these circumstances that I am at my best, that I see the holes during the races. I think I’m just missing a few races to find those reflexes, ”said Hamelin.
For his part, Jordan Pierre-Gilles of Sherbrooke was disqualified from the 500m A final due to a false simultaneous start.
“It’s disappointing at the end of the day, but I think there is a lot of positive to be drawn from all that,” said Pierre-Gilles.
Finally, in the relay, the Canadians had to settle for second place in the B final over 3,000m, while their male teammates were disqualified in the semi-finals over 5,000m.
“It was almost perfect, except when Maxime [Laoun] wanted to push Steven [Dubois] to gain a position and that he did it a little too hard. Max has fallen… falls at the relay do happen. It’s the first stint of the season, against powers like the Chinese, the Hungarians and the Italians, so for us it’s only a postponement, ”concluded Hamelin.
The Beijing World Cup continues on Sunday with the men’s and women’s 1000m events, as well as the men’s, women’s and mixed relay finals.