Canadian Olympic gold medalist Samuel Girard of Ferland-et-Boilleau, Quebec won the gold medal on Sunday in a men’s 500 metre World Cup in Almity, Kazakhstan. Girard had won the gold medal for Canada in the men’s 1000 metre short track speed skating event at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
Girard earned three of six medals for Team Canada this past weekend. He was also part of the Canadian team that won the silver medal in the men’s 5000 metre relay and gold in the mixed gender 2000 metre relay . Girard teamed up with Pascal Dion of Montreal, Quebec, Steven Dubois of Lachenaie, Quebec and Charles Hamelin of Levis, Quebec in the men’s 5000 metre relay. Meanwhile, three-time Canadian Olympic medalist Kim Boutin of Sherbrooke, Quebec, won four medals in Kazakhstan. Boutin, who was also part of the gold medal winning 2000 metre mixed gender relay team, won a silver medal in the women’s 1000 metres on Saturday, and then won a bronze medal in the women’s 1500 metres and a bronze medal in the women’s 3000 metre relay with Danae Blais of Chateauguay, Quebec, and Alyson Charles and Camille de Serres-Rainville of Montreal, Quebec. In the mixed gender 2000 metre relay, Boutin and Girard teamed up with Charles and Cedrik Blais of Chateauguay, Quebec.
In the women’s 1000 metres, Boutin posted a second place time of 1:28.974. Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 1:28.887. Ah Rum Noh of South Korea won the bronze medal with a time of 1:29.128. Boutin reached the podium by 0.154 seconds. Rianne de Vries of the Netherlands finished in fourth place with a time of 1:29.126. This was Boutin’s first day of competing short track speed skating in 2018-19 after missing the first two meets in North America.
In the men’s 500 metres on Sunday, Girard posted a winning time of 40.661 seconds. Shaoang Liu of Hungary won the silver medal with a time of 40.802 seconds. Abzal Azhgaliyev of Kazakhstan won the bronze medal with a time of 40.827 seconds. Girard won the gold medal by .468 seconds over Dae Heon Hwang of South Korea. Girard is now in third place in the World Cup standings in the men’s 500 metres with 16194 points. He trails Dajing Wu of China, who leads with 3000 points and Liu, who is in second with 22400 points.
In the women’s 1500 metres on Sunday, Boutin placed third with a time of 2:28.476. Min Jeong Choi of South Korea won the gold medal with a time of 2:28.264 and Schulting won the silver with a time of 2:28.320. Boutin reached the podium by 1.52 seconds over Suk Hee Shim of South Korea, who was in fourth place with a time of 2:29.996.
In the women’s 3000 metre relay on Sunday, Canada had a third place time of 4:12.193. The Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 4:11.327 and South Korea won the silver medal with a time of 4:11.506. Canada reached the podium by 1.408 seconds over Italy, who finished in fourth place with a time of 4:13.241.
In the men’s 5000 metre relay on Sunday, Canada had a second place time of 6:56.750. The Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 6:49.973 and China won the bronze medal with a time of 7:02.01. The medals for Girard, Boutin, Dion, Dubois, Hamelin, Blais, Charles and de Serres-Rainville will give them confidence as she prepares for the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.
For details of Canada’s gold medal in the mixed gender relay, please click here.
