The 2023-24 short track speed skating season will start in Montreal, with the presentation of the first two World Cups of the season, as well as the Four Continents Championship over the next three weeks. And Canada intends to take advantage of this advantage.
“It’s clear that it makes everything easier to be here in Montreal: no need to pack your bags and take a 12-hour flight to I don’t know where,” admitted Courtney Sarault, one of the heads of Canadian poster who will be in these first three competitions of the International Skating Union (ISU) season.
“The next ones will be in Asia and that is always very tiring,” continued the New Brunswicker, met on the sidelines of the press conference to launch the activities, at the Maurice-Richard arena. Being in our elements, being rested will give us an advantage at the start of the season. »
Thus, from October 20 to 22 and from October 27 to 29, the Maurice-Richard arena will host the first two stages of the ISU World Cup circuit. The following weekend, from November 3 to 5, the Four Continents Championships will be held at Place Bell in Laval.
“It’s definitely an advantage to be at home. We are doing our usual routine, except that there are a lot more people for training, declared the coach of the national team, Sébastien Cros. When we learned that the first two World Cups of the season and the four continents were being presented here, everyone was very happy.
“Whether you like it or not, [les déplacements] are additional fatigue to manage. This time we have this advantage. And for the athletes, it’s a bonus to be able to skate in front of family and friends. »
“I have trouble adapting to other ices,” said triple Olympic medalist Steven Dubois. Just for this, I keep the same confidence that I had all summer on my ice! »
Canada, winner of 37 Olympic medals and more than 200 World Short Track Championship medals, has sent a team of 12 skaters for the first two stages of the World Cup.
Thus, Sarault’s compatriot Nikki Doak, Ontarian Renée Steenge, and Quebecers Florence Brunelle, Danaé Blais and Claudia Gagnon will make up the women’s team.
For Brunelle, it is a return to competition at the senior level, she who took a step back last year, only participating in the Junior Worlds.
“I needed this break. I wanted to see if being a speed skater was what I really wanted in life,” said the 19-year-old, who joined the team at 16.
She wouldn’t go back.
“I feel good, I want to be here and above all, I say exactly what I feel instead of perhaps saying what we want to hear. »
On the men’s side, in addition to Dubois, William Dandjinou, Jordan Pierre-Gilles, Pascal Dion, Maxime Laoun and Félix Roussel will take the ice against the world elite.
Dubois is obviously aiming for the podium, but the emphasis will be placed more on technical and tactical development.
“We have been putting this forward for two years with our coaches, who found that, especially from a tactical point of view, I had a lot of work to do on these points,” explained the skater from Terrebonne. With this in mind, if the results on the ice were not up to par, but we feel progress on these two points, then it will be a good competition.
“Personally, I always feel in good shape in my races. I can’t wait to see what it will be like with these aspects that we have been working on all summer. »
In all, 184 skaters from 33 countries will try to get their hands on the medals at stake at the Maurice-Richard arena over the next two weekends.
For the Four Continents Championship, Sarault, Brunelle and Blais will be accompanied by Cynthia Mascitto and Annabelle Green, while Jerôme Courtemanche and William Sohier will join Dubois, Dandjinou and Pierre-Gilles.
This is the first time that a city or region has organized three consecutive events, a feat which required the work of more than 200 volunteers who came to lend a hand to the organizing committee.