Short Track: Gold for 5000m men’s relay, Blais wins 500m bronze
Team Canada won two more short track medals at the short track World Cup in Dresden on Sunday, with the men winning gold in the 5000m relay, and Cedrik Blais claiming his first World Cup medal, a bronze in the 500m.
The team of Charles Hamelin, Samuel Girard, Charle Cournoyer and Pascal Dion finished the relay in 6:44.646. The quartet of Quebec skaters beat the Japanese (6:45.810) and the Hungarians (6:50.998), while the Chinese were penalized.
The same team also won silver at last spring’s World Championships and bronze at PyeongChang 2018.
READ: Canadian short track speed skaters capture bronze in men’s 5000m relay
Earlier in the day, Blais crossed the finish line with a time of 40.344 seconds, behind South Koreans Dae Heon Hwang (40.272) and Hyo Jun Lim (40.243). This is his first individual World Cup medal of his career.
Also in competing in the 500m was Steven Dubois, who was fourth in the B final.
READ: A trio of short track silvers for Canada in Dresden
On the women’s side, Kim Boutin finished just off the podium in fourth for the 500m race. Hamelin also competed in the 1000m, but a fall near the start of the race left him in fourth place.
Canada also raced in the women’s 3000m relay final. However, the team consisting of Boutin, Alyson Charles, Courtney Lee Sarault and Kasandra Bradette were unable to reach the podium after receiving a penalty. The South Koreans were also penalized, and the relay was won by the Russians.
Canada has a total of five medals from the World Cup in Dresden. On Saturday, Boutin, Hamelin and Cournoyer each won a silver medal.
The next stop on the ISU Short Track World Cup is in Torino, Italy from February 8-10.
