Short track | Steven Dubois wins a second medal

Quebec skater Steven Dubois won the bronze medal in the 500m short track speed skating event on Sunday morning.

This is her second medal of the Games, after winning silver in the 1500m event.

From the first laps, the Hungarian Shaoang Liu and the athlete of the Russian Olympic Committee Konstantin Ivliev took the lead. Dubois therefore had to protect his place in third place.

He was able to do that, even closing the distance between lu and the two leaders.

Seventh in the World Cup standings over the distance, the Quebecer was cautious at the end of the race and skated to be sure to keep his place on the podium, knowing that Abzal Azhgaliyev, of Kazakhstan, was closing in.

Hungary and the Russian Olympic Committee won gold and silver respectively.

This is the first medal since the Sochi 2014 Games in the men’s 500m for Canada.

Hectic qualifications

During the qualifying rounds, in the quarter-finals, the two Canadian skaters taking part in this day of competition were from the same group. Jordan Pierre-Gilles and Steven Dubois were part of the fourth wave of the semi-finals. Dubois led until the last two laps, before being passed by Liu of Hungary.

Unfortunately, Pierre-Gilles crashed with three laps to go. He was at the back of the peloton.

“At the start, I had contact with the Hungarian and I don’t know if it affected my blades or anything. After that I was hesitant. I don’t think I was relaxed enough. I’m really disappointed, for sure I expected much better for my last individual competition. I had a lot to give, I could have gone far,” explained Pierre-Gilles after the race.

In the semi-finals, Dubois was hot. Installed in second place, the Quebecer was in a good position to qualify for the A final, but the Korean Daeheon Hwang tripped him up. He therefore finished in fourth position, but the officials advanced him to the first final.