Kim Boutin continued her dominance on the international short track circuit this season, skating to a gold medal in the 1000m-1 at the World Cup in Montreal. Steven Dubois was the first Canadian man to step on the podium in the 2019-20 campaign, picking up a silver medal in the same distance.
Boutin, skating in front of fans from her hometown of Sherbrooke, Que., took the lead position mid-way through her race, at which point victory never seemed in doubt. Her time of 1:30.827 put her well ahead of Korea’s Whi Min Seo and Kexin Fan of China. So far this season, she has won three gold medals in three races, over three different distances.
In his race, Dubois (Lachenaie, Que.) crossed the line in 1:26.739, behind only Korean Dae Heon Hwang, who has been dominant in the 1000m distance over the past year. China’s Tianyu Han rounded out the podium. It is the first individual World Cup silver of Dubois’ career, having brought home three bronze last season.
Other Results to Note
- Claudia Gagnon (Sageunay, Que.) and Maxime Laoun (Montreal, Que.) also skated in A Finals on Saturday, the first of their World Cup careers, placing fifth in the 1500m and 1000m-1, respectively.
- Charles Hamelin fell in his semifinal of the men’s 1500m to end his podium hopes, finishing the distance ranked 17th.
- Canada’s ladies’ relay advanced to Sunday’s medal race after an exciting semifinal, where they out-skated the reigning Olympic and World Champions from Korea.
- The Canadian mixed gender and men’s relay teams were eliminated from competition earlier in the weekend after a fall in each led to failed exchanges between skaters.
- Pascal Dion (Montreal, Que.) suffered a leg injury in the men’s relay on Friday and was forced to withdraw from his remaining events.
“I’m very happy with how I raced. I was in last place and the Koreans were going pretty fast. I saw their strategy – one in tight and the other to the outside to try and block me. I was thinking of doing an outside pass, but when the opportunity presented itself on the inside, I took it. One of my teammates always says that pressure is a privilege, so I am for sure happy to have won a medal [in Montreal].”