Florence Brunelle and William Dandjinou were crowned national monarchs after three days of competition at the Canadian Short Track Speed Skating Championships, held in Montreal this weekend.
For Brunelle, from Trois-Rivières, it is a first Canadian title while Dandjinou, a Montrealer, managed to defend the crown he obtained for the very first time last season.
In the women’s event, Brunelle won five medals – four gold and one silver – and finished the competition with 20,000 points in her four best events.
These performances easily earned her the first national title of her career in the senior category, ahead of two other Quebec skaters, Danaé Blais (15,760 points) and Kim Boutin (13,120 points).
She thus took the crown from Courtney Sarault, who did not take part in the competition at the end of the week due to a concussion she suffered in training.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
William Dandjinou
Dandjinou, the reigning world champion in the 1,000 metres, won silver in the 1,500 metres on Friday before adding three gold medals to his tally.
The battle for the men’s title was a close one and was not decided until Sunday afternoon, when Dandjinou got the better of Steven Dubois, of Lachenaie, in the 1,000 metres to secure the second overall title of his career.
The results recorded at these Canadian Short Track Championships will help select the skaters who will represent Canada internationally during the first half of the season.
Canada will kick off its international season in Montreal, where the brand new ISU World Short Track Tour will make its debut from October 25 to 27 at the Maurice Richard Arena.