Kim Boutin kicked off the World Cup season with a golden performance in the 1500m in Salt Lake City, earning the Canadian short track team its first medal of the 2019-2020 international campaign.
The native of Sherbrooke, Que. made a perfectly executed outside pass on the second last lap of the finals to overtake a pair of skaters and cross the line in first place (2:22.061). She was joined on the podium by defending world champion Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands (2:22.211) and Han Yutong of China (2:22.282).
On the men’s side, 35 year old Charles Hamelin (Sainte-Julie, Que.) narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the 1500m, coming in fourth place. Despite not winning a medal, the result showed that the veteran skater has returned to form following a summer of recovery and rehabilitation from an ankle injury that kept him out of this fall’s Canadian Short Track Championships.
Meanwhile, Canada’s mixed gender relay team – consisting of World Cup rookies William Dandjinou (Verdun, Que.) and Rikki Doak (Fredericton, N.B.), along with second year skaters Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.) and Cédrik Blais (Châteauguay, Que.) – raced to a fifth place result, behind medalists Russia, China and Korea.
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