Kim Boutin wins two World Cup short track speed skating gold medals in China

Kim Boutin (Wikimedia Commons)

Canadian Olympic silver medalist Kim Boutin of Sherbrooke, Quebec won two gold medals for Canada at a World Cup short track speed skating competition in Shanghai, China this past weekend. She won the gold medal in the women’s 500 metres on Saturday and in the women’s 3000 metre relay on Sunday with Alyson Charles of Montreal, Quebec, Courtney Lee Sarault of Moncton, New Brunswick and Danae Blais of Chateauguay, Quebec.

Canada’s other World Cup medals in China were a bronze medal in the women’s 1500 metre short track event by Sarault on Saturday and a bronze medal in the men’s 500 metre short track event by Steven Dubois of Lachenaie, Quebec on Sunday. The silver medal won by Boutin came in the women’s 1000 metres short tack speed skating event at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

In the women’s 500 metres, Boutin had a winning time of 42.845 seconds. She reached the podium by 0.527 seconds over Kexin Fan of China, who had a fourth place time of 43.372 seconds. Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands won the silver medal with a time of 42.877 seconds and Martina Valcepina of Italy won the bronze medal with a time of 42.971 seconds. Boutin leads the World Cup standings with 40000 points. She has 1624 points more than Valcepina, who is in second place with 38736 points.

In the women’s 1500 metres, Sarault had a third place time of 2:25.395. She reached the podium by 0.429 seconds over fourth place finisher Yuting Zhang of China, who had a time of 2:25.424. Alang Kim of South Korea won the gold medal with a time of 2:25.066 and Min Jeong Choi of South Korea won the silver medal with a time of 2:25.269.

Sarault is in seventh place in the World Cup women’s 1500 metre standings with 16641 points. Ji Yoo Kim of South Korea leads with 20000 points.

In the men’s 500 metres, Dubois had a third place time of 41.289 seconds. Shaolin Sandor Liu of Hungary won the gold medal with a time of 40.722 seconds. June Seo Lee of South Korea won the silver medal with a time of 40.904 seconds. Dubois reached the podium by 11.278 seconds over Abzal Azhgaliyev of Kazakhstan, who had a fourth place time of 52.567 seconds.

Dubois is in 12th place in the World Cup men’s 500 metre standings with 8359 points. Liu leads with 43438 points.

In the women’s relay, Canada had a gold medal winning time of 4:09.46. The Netherlands won the silver medal with a time of 4:09.81. The United States won the bronze medal with a time of 4:13.28. The medals for Boutin, Charles, Sarault, Blais and Dubois will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. 

 

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