Alyson Charles of Montreal, Quebec came away with three medals from her first ever World Cup short track speed skating event in Calgary. Charles won the bronze medal in two separate women’s 500 metre races (one on Saturday and one on Sunday) and then teamed up with Camille De Serres-Rainville of Montreal, Quebec, Claudia Gagnon of Saguenay, Quebec and Courtney Lee Sarault of Dieppe, New Brunswick to win bronze in the women’s 3000 metre relay. Sarault also won a silver medal in the women’s 1500 metre race.
In the women’s 500 metres on Saturday, Charles had a third place time in the A Final of 43.449 seconds. Natalia Maliszewska of Poland won the gold medal with a time of 43.142 seconds. Yara van Kerkhof of the Netherlands won the silver medal with a time of 43.353 seconds.
In the women’s 500 metres on Sunday, Charles had a third place time of 43.575 seconds. Lara van Ruijven of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 43.07 seconds. Kexin Fan of China won the silver medal with a time of 43.214 seconds. Charles reached the podium by 0.157 seconds over Maliszewska, who finished in fourth place with a time of 43.732 seconds.
In the women’s 1500 metres on Saturday, Sarault’s silver medal time was two minutes, 28.432 seconds. Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 2:28.423. Ekaterina Efremenkova of Russia won the bronze medal with a time of 2:28.614. Sarault reached the podium by 0.369 seconds over Yutong Han of China.
In the women’s relay on Sunday, Charles, De Serres-Rainville, Gagnon and Sarault posted a third place time of 4:05.267. Russia won the gold medal with a time of 4:03.925. South Korea won the silver medal with a time of 4:03.966. Canada reached the podium by 9.685 seconds over the Netherlands, who finished in fourth place with a time of 4:14.952.
