Roussel wins gold as Canada claims three medals on final day of short track racing in Beijing
Félix Roussel, Florence Brunelle and Rikki Doak all reached the podium on the final day of the ISU Short Track World Tour in Beijing, China, wrapping up a thrilling seven-medal weekend for Canada.
Roussel led the charge on Sunday, claiming gold in the men’s 1000m final and securing his first individual distance medal of the season. This also marks his second career World Tour victory, having captured 500m gold in Dresden last season.
In Sunday’s race, a crash between leaders William Dandjinou and Korea’s Park Ji Won with just four laps remaining opened the door for Roussel, who took the lead back and coasted to the finish line in 1:25.352. Joining Roussel on the podium was Poland’s Michal Niewinski (1:25.480) and Great Britain’s Niall Treacy (1:25.598).
With this victory, Roussel climbs to fifth place in the overall distance rankings with 154 points, trailing teammate Dandjinou, who leads with 180 points.
“I’m obviously supper proud. It was a difficult summer. I was dreaming of hitting the ice without feeling pain while I was injured. To finally come back and earn this medal really filled me with pride because I know the journey I had to go through over the last few months to get here. I am proud of the way I skated. I showed that I had the legs and reacted well to the things that happed during my races. Crossing the finish line was an incredible moment. I never dreamed of being back on the podium this quickly.” said Roussel.
Brunelle and Doak followed Roussel’s victory with a double podium finish in the women’s 500m final.
Brunelle earned her first career individual distance podium, claiming silver with a time of 42.202, behind Dutch Xandra Velzeboer (42.078). The 20-year-old Olympian made her move late in the race, passing Velzeboer on the inside with two laps remaining. However, the reigning World Record holder quickly regained the lead at the exit of the next turn and held on for the win.
Brunelle shared the podium with teammate Doak, who captured bronze with a time of 42.696. Kim Boutin finished just off the podium in fourth place (42.812).
“This has been quite the weekend! We started off with a world record in the mixed relay on Friday and yesterday was a more difficult day in individual distances, but we took gold in the women’s relay. Today, I was able to remain concentrated and filter out the things that didn’t go super well yesterday from my mind. It’s something that I feel I did well and I’m quite proud of that.” Brunelle said following her race.
After opening the season with two consecutive gold medals, the Canadian men’s relay team fell short of repeating their success in Sunday’s final. The quartet of Roussel, Dandjinou, Steven Dubois and Jordan Pierre-Gilles were in contention for a podium finish, but an unfortunate fall by Dandjinou with nine laps remaining dashed their hopes of a medal.
Next weekend, the ISU Short Track World Tour continues in Seoul, followed by two European stops in Tilburg and Milano to finish this season. Currently, Canada sits atop the ISU Team Crystal Globe standings with 4,640 points, comfortably ahead of Korea (3,990) and the Netherlands (3,149).
Blais wins first gold in Beijing as Canada claims four medals
Danaé Blais claimed her first career win on the international circuit Saturday with a gold medal in the 1000m. Canada had a stellar four-medal day, as William Dandjinou, Steven Dubois, and the women’s relay team also reached the podium.
Blais, 25, led the 1000m final from start to finish, holding off Dutch skater Xandra Velzeboer (1:29.717) in a thrilling final lap to claim gold with a time of 1:29.678. This victory is Blais’ third individual distance medal, adding to the 1000m silver and 1500m bronze she won in Montreal last year. These achievements earned her the 2023-24 title of Canada’s Female Short Track Athlete of the Year.
“Winning gold is an incredible feeling,” said Blais. “The level of competition is extremely elevated this season, so I didn’t really have the feeling that I was going to reach the top this early on. It’s a tremendous feeling knowing that I have what it takes to become the best. I’m excited for the rest of the weekend and the rest of the season.”
After her first gold medal, Blais joined Kim Boutin, Florence Brunelle, and Courtney Sarault to win gold in the women’s 3000m relay. The Canadians dominated with a time of 4:10.948, comfortably ahead of Korea (4:17.746) and Kazakhstan (4:39.492). With 260 points after three events, the Canadian women lead the World Tour standings, ahead of Italy (224) and Korea (220).
In men’s events, Dandjinou claimed silver in the 1500m, finishing just behind Korea’s Park Jiwon in a hotly contested race. Dandjinou has medaled in every 1500m event this season and leads the distance standings by 40 points.
Dubois added another silver in the 500m (40.289), finishing between China’s Sun Long (40.155) and Liu Shaoang (40.342).