Team Canada has won its fifth medal at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. On Monday, Kim Boutin of Sherbrooke, Quebec won the bronze medal in the women’s 500 metre short track speed skating.
Boutin posted a time of 42.724 seconds. Arianna Fontana of Italy won the gold medal with a time of 42.488 seconds. Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands won the silver medal with a time of 42.559 seconds. Boutin earned a podium by 0.079 seconds over Yuting Zhang of China, who had a fourth place time of 42.803 seconds.
Boutin has now won four Olympic medals in her short track speed skating career. At the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, she won the silver medal in the women’s 1000 metres, along with bronze medals in the women’s 500 metres and 1500 metres.
One must realize that Boutin won her first three Olympic medals in South Korea, where the short track speed skating sport receives a ton of media attention. The fact that Boutin generated success in South Korea, made her a victim of online cyberbullying, where she actually received death threats. The controversy came in the women’s 500 metres when South Korea’s Min-jeong Choi was disqualified, which moved Boutin up from fourth to third. In the eyes of many Koreans, Boutin was responsible for some of the contact, and should have been disqualified as well. The Canadian Olympic Committee recognized what Boutin was positively able to achieve in winning three medals, and named her the flag bearer in the closing ceremonies.
