Canadian Olympic silver medalist Kim Boutin of Sherbrooke, Quebec won two gold medals this past weekend in a Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Salt Lake City, Utah. Boutin won the gold medal in the women’s 1500 metres on Saturday and then another gold medal in the women’s 500 metres on Sunday.
In the women’s 1500 metres, Boutin posted a first place time of 2:22.061. Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands won the silver medal with a time of 2:22.211. Yutong Han of China won the bronze medal with a time of 2:22.282. Boutin reached the podium by 0.495 seconds over Alang Kim of South Korea, who was in fourth place with a time of 2:22.556.
In the women’s 500 metres, Boutin set a world record in the quarterfinals with a time of 41.936 seconds. She broke the record previous held by Elise Christie of Great Britain, who had a time of 42.335 seconds in a World Cup in Salt Lake City on November 13, 2016.
Boutin’s gold medal winning time in the final was 42.336 seconds. Chunyu Qu of China won the silver medal with a time of 42.452 seconds and Lara van Ruijven of the Netherlands won the bronze medal with a time of 42.858 seconds.
Boutin also won a third medal in the women’s 3000 metre relay on Sunday. Boutin teamed up with Alyson Charles of Montreal, Quebec, Claudia Gagnon of Saguenay, Quebec and Danae Blais of Chateauguay, Quebec with a time of 4:09.009. China won gold with a time of 4:08.746. South Korea won silver with a time of 4:08.979. Canada reached the podium by .169 seconds over the Netherlands, who had a fourth place time of 4:09.178.
Canada also won bronze in the men’s 5000 metre relay on Sunday. Three-time Olympic gold medalist Charles Hamelin of Levis, Quebec, Maxime Laoun of Montreal, Quebec, Pascal Dion of Montreal, Quebec and Steven Dubois of Lachenaie, Quebec had a third place time of 6:43.883. Russia won the gold medal with a time of 6:43.662 and South Korea won the silver medal with a time of 6:43.743. Canada reached the podium by 0.322 seconds over the Netherlands, who were in fourth place with a time of 6:44.205. The medals for Boutin, Charles, Gagnon, Blais, Hamelin, Laoun, Dion and Dubois will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
