The Canadian team of Canadian Olympic gold medalists Charles Hamelin of Levis, Quebec and Samuel Girard of Ferland-et-Boileau, Quebec, two-time Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Charle Cournoyer of Boucherville, Quebec and Pascal Dion of Montreal, Quebec and Steven Dubois of Lachenaie, Quebec won a World Cup men’s 5000 metre relay event in Dresden, Germany on Sunday. This was the first World Cup gold medal this season for Team Canada in the men’s 5000 metre relay event.
Team Canada had a gold medal winning time of six minutes, 44.646 seconds. Japan won the silver medal with a time of 6:45.810. Hungary won the bronze medal with a time of 6:50.998. With the gold medal, Canada moves into second place in the World Cup standings with 26397 points. Hungary leads with 29677 points.
Hamelin and Cournoyer each won an individual medal as well on Saturday in Germany. Hamelin won the silver medal in the men’s 1500 metres and Cournoyer won a silver medal in the men’s 1000 metres.
In the men’s 1500 metres, Hamelin posted a time in the final of two minutes, 15.155 seconds. Gun Woo Kim of South Korea won the gold medal with a time of two minutes, 15.123 seconds. Hyo Jun Lim of South Korea won the bronze medal with a time of two minutes, 15.18 seconds. Hamelin reached the podium by 0.066 seconds over Dubois. Hamelin is in ninth place in the World Cup men’s 1500 metre standings with 11020 points. Kim leads with 28000 points. Dubois is in fourth place with 17190 points and Dion is in seventh place with 12328 points.
In the men’s 1000 metres, Cournoyer posted a time of one minute, 25.412 seconds. Dae Heon Hwang of South Korea won the gold medal with a time of 1:25.133. Kyung Hwan Hong of South Korea won the bronze medal with a time of 1:25.416. Cournoyer reached the podium by 0.22 seconds over Ji Won Park of South Korea, who finished in fourth place with a time of 1:25.632. Park leads the World Cup men’s 1000 metre standings with 29745 points and Cournoyer is in sixth place with 16185 points.
In the women’s 1500 metres on Saturday, three-time Canadian Olympic medalist Kim Boutin of Sherbrooke, Quebec won the silver medal with a time of 2:23.140. Ji Yoo Kim of South Korea won the gold medal with a time of 2:23.076. Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands won the bronze medal with a time of 2:23.200. Boutin reached the podium by 0.271 seconds over Yihan Guo of China. Boutin is in sixth place in the World Cup standings with 14400 points. Min Jeong Choi of South Korea leads the women’s 1500 metre World Cup standings with 28192 points.
In the men’s 500 metres on Sunday, Cedrik Blais of Chateauguay, Quebec won the bronze medal with a time of 40.344 seconds. Hyo Jun Lim of South Korea won the gold medal with a time of 40.243 seconds. Hwang won the silver medal with a time of 40.272 seconds. Blais reached the podium by .07 seconds over Ziwei Ren of China, who was in fourth place with a time of 40.414 seconds. Blais is in eighth place in the World Cup men’s 500 metre World Cup standings with 9379 points. Dajing Wu of China leads the men’s 500 metre World Cup standings with 30000 points. The top Canadian is Girard in fourth place with 16546 points. The World Cup medals for Hamelin, Girard, Cournoyer, Dion, Dubois, Boutin and Blais will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
