Team Canada had a very successful short track speed skating World Cup in Gdansk, Poland this past weekend. The Canadian team won six medals overall (three gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals).
Canada’s first gold medal came on Saturday in the men’s 1500 metres, as Canadian Olympic gold medalist Pascal Dion of Montreal, Quebec posted a winning time of 2:16.06. Sungwoo Jang of South Korea won the silver medal with a time of 2:16.087. Friso Emmons of the Netherlands won the bronze medal with a time of 2:16.178. Dion reached the podium by 0.236 seconds over Niall Treacy of Great Britain, who had a fourth place time of 2:16.296. Dion finished in fourth place in the World Cup standings for the men’s 1500 metes with 329 points. Fellow Canadian William Dandjinou of Montreal, Quebec won the World Cup title in the men’s 1500 metres with 500 points.
Canada’s other two gold medals came on Sunday. In the men’s 5000 metre relay, Dion teamed up with Felix Roussel of Sherbrooke, Quebec and Canadian Olympic gold medalists Steven Dubois of Laval, Quebec, Jordan Pierre-Gilles of Sherbrooke to finish first. Dion, Dubois and Pierre-Gilles won the gold medal for Canada in the men’s 5000 metres at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. Canada had a winning time of 6:55.577. South Korea won the silver medal with a time of 6:55.915. Japan won the bronze medal with a time of 6:56.000. Canada reached the podium by 1.473 seconds over Kazakhstan, which had a fourth place time of 6:57.05. Canada won the World Cup standings with 380 points. South Korea was second with 340 points.
Meanwhile, Dubois won the gold medal with a time of 40.303 seconds in the men’s 5o0 metres. Denis Nikisha of Kazakhstan won the silver medal with a time of 41.051 seconds. Michal Niewinski of Poland won the bronze medal with a time of 41.158 seconds. Dubois reached the podium by .939 seconds over Teun Boer of the Netherlands, who had a time of 41.242 seconds. This was the second medal in the men’s 500 metres for Dubois on the weekend. On Saturday, Dubois won the silver medal with a time of 41.467 seconds. Yi Ra Seo of South Korea won the gold medal with a time of 41.451 seconds. Lukasz Kuczynski of Poland won the bronze medal with a time of 41.875 seconds. Dubois reached the podium by 0.429 seconds over Tae Sung Kim of South Korea, who had a time of 41.896 seconds. In the World Cup standings, Dubois finished in second place with 433 points. The World Cup champion in the men’s 500 metres was Jordan Pierre-Gilles of Sherbrooke with 486 points.
In the women’s 500 metres on Saturday, Canadian Olympic silver medalist Kim Boutin won the bronze medal with a time of 43.19 seconds. Selma Poutsma of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 43.033 seconds. Hanne Desmet of Belgium won the silver medal with a time of 43.046 seconds. Boutin, who won the Olympic silver medal in the women’s 1000 metres at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, reached the podium by 0.68 seconds over Yara van Kerkhof of the Netherlands, who had a fourth place time of 43.87 seconds. In the World Cup women’s 500 metre standings, Boutin is in 21st place with 114 points. Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands was the World Cup women’s 500 metre champion with 650 points.
In the mixed team relay finals, Boutin, Pierre-Gilles, Rikki Doak of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Maxime Laoun of Montreal, posted a time of 2:41.469 to win bronze. Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 2:40.737. South Korea won the silver medal with a time of 2:41.357. Canada reached the podium by 0.864 seconds over Belgium, which had a fourth place time of 2:42.333. Laoun won a gold medal for Canada in the men’s 5000 mete relay at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. In the mixed relay World Cup standings, Canada finished in seventh place with 200 points. The World Cup champion was the Netherlands with 380 points. The medals for Boutin, Pierre-Gilles, Doak, Laoun, Boutin, Dubois, Dion, and Roussel will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
