Short Track Speed ​​Skating | Kim Boutin and Maxime Laoun sign the double in the 500 meters

One added another World Cup gold medal to her collection, while the other began hers with her first individual medal.

True to form, the Sherbrooke resident had an excellent start to take control of the race. Hot on the heels of Poland’s Natalia Maliszewska, she started to widen the gap while further back, her compatriot Rikki Doak fell to finish fifth.

Maliszewska then picked up Boutin on the last lap, except that the Canadian team veteran was able to defend her place. This is the first individual medal this season for the woman who skipped the 500 meters at the Montreal stage last weekend to take part in the two 1,000 meter events.

“I’m really happy with my race and I really didn’t expect that, because I don’t have the explosiveness that I usually have in my legs. So I used more strategy to block and manage my run differently,” Boutin told Sportcom.

The skater implements a new training plan, including more weight training and less intensity, to improve other aspects of her skating, which makes her feel like she has less punch than in the past.

“What we’re doing right now (in training) might be good in the long run. »

The door to the top step of the podium opened for Boutin after the disqualifications of the Dutch Suzanne Schulting and Xandra Velzeboer in the semi-finals.

“We don’t often have the opportunity to race against the best, so it’s more of a shame that they aren’t in the final. […] I wish they were there, although right now it’s hard to compete with their speed. »

A first medal… and a gold one!

Being an Olympic and World Cup medalist, but only in the relay, is now a thing of the past for Maxime Laoun who has finally won his first individual medal. And a golden one!

“It’s still crazy! My plan was to be as calm as possible, while being aggressive. I worked a lot on my 500 meters last year. […] I have been going fast in training for a long time, but I had never been able to show it in competition because I was always a little too stressed or too aggressive. Today (Saturday) I found the perfect balance. »

In a final where the skaters changed positions often, Laoun took the lead with three laps to go. Kazakh Abzal Azhgaliyev was not going to give up so easily and he found himself first entering the last corner, except that he came out too wide and Laoun squeezed on the inside. He thus succeeds his teammate Steven Dubois who won this distance a week earlier at Aréna Maurice-Richard.

“I made the right decision. The ice is fast, but very brittle, so when the Kazakh bouldered tight, I knew I had the chance to pass him on the other side. I went wide (into the turn) and leaned on to gain speed. I had visualized it before the race and it was perfect! “, Continued the one who had also won his semi-final wave.

Coaches Sébastien Cros and Marc Gagnon warmly congratulated Laoun after the race.

“Marc really took me under his wing this year and he saw that last year my weakness was high speed overtaking and my technique. We worked very hard on that this summer. It just paid off and I’m super happy! »

The Canadian quartet of the 2000m mixed relay made up of Claudia Gagnon, Mathieu Pelletier, Félix Roussel and Courtney Sarault won the B final.

Sunday, the women’s and men’s 500 meters, 1000 meters and relay events will be on the program for this last day of competition. The Canadian women’s and men’s relays qualified for the A finals.