Team Canada won seven medals this past weekend at a Short Track Speed Skating World Tour competition in Dordrecht, Netherlands. Courtney Sarault of Moncton, New Brunswick came away with three medals (gold in the women’s 500 metres, gold in the women’s 1000 metres, and silver in the women’s 1500 metres). Florence Brunelle of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec also won bronze in the women’s 500 metres. On the men’s side, William Dandjinou of Sherbrooke, Quebec won gold in the 1500 metres and silver in the men’s 500 metres, and Felix Roussel of Sherbrooke won silver in the men’s 1500 metres.
In the men’s 1500 metres on Saturday, Dandjinou had a winning time of 2:16.600. Roussel was second with a time of 2;16.670. Long Sun of China won the bronze medal with a time of 2:16.772. Dandjinou reached the podium by 0.334 seconds and Roussel reached the podium by 0.264 seconds. Thomas Nadalini of Italy finished in fourth place with a time of 2;16.934. In the World Tour standings in the men’s 1500 metres, Dandjinou won with 300 points. Nadalini finished second with 200 points, and Roussel finished in fifth with 164 points. In the World Tour standings, the top three results from the four competitions counted.
In the women’s 500 metres on Sunday, Sarault had a winning time of 42.695 seconds. Corinne Stoddard of the United States won the silver medal with a time of 42.999 seconds. Brunelle won the bronze medal with a time of 43.031 seconds. Sarault won a medal by 0.364 seconds and Brunelle won a medal by 0.028 seconds. Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands finished in fourth place with a time of 43.059 seconds. In the World Tour standings in the women’s 500 metres, Velzeboer won with 300 points, Sarault finished second with 240 points, and Brunelle finished ninth with 94 points.
In the women’s 1000 metres on Saturday, Sarault won the gold medal with a time of 1:27.701. Stoddard won the silver medal with a time of 1:27.752, and Hanne Desmet of Belgium won the bronze medal with a time of 1:27.897. Sarault reached the podium by 0.327 seconds over Velzeboer, who had a fourth place time of 1;28.028. In the World Tour standings, Sarault finished first with 300 points. Desmet was second with 230 points.
In the men’s 500 metres on Saturday, Dandjinou had a second place time of 42.136 seconds. Andrew Heo of the United States won the gold medal with a time of 42.012 seconds. Felix Pigeon of Poland won the bronze medal with a time of 42.218 seconds. Dandjinou reached the podium by 0.641 seconds. Jens Van ‘T Wout of the Netherlands finished in fourth place with a time of 44.774 seconds. In the World Tour standings, Dandjinou won with 300 points. Pietro Sighel of Italy was in second with 190 points.
In the women’s 1500 metres on Sunday, Sarault won the silver medal with a time of 2:26.443. Gilli Kim of South Korea won the gold medal with a time of 2:26.306. Minjeong Choi of South Korea won the bronze medal with a time of 2:26.568. Sarault reached the podium by 0.244 seconds. Elisa Confortola of Italy finished in fourth place with a time of 2:27.687. Sarault finished second in the World Tour standings in the women’s 1500 metres with 250 points. Kim had the most points with 280. The medals for Sarault, Dandjinou, Roussel and Brunelle will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
