Speed Skating Canada is proud to announce the athletes nominated to represent Canada at the first-ever ISU Four Continents Short Track Championships from January 10-12 in Montreal. Ten of Canada’s best short track skaters will hit the ice at the Maurice-Richard Arena against competitors from North America, South America, Asia and Oceania.
Leading the way for the women’s team is Kim Boutin (Sherbrooke, Que.), who has reached the podium in each of her eight individual World Cup distances this season, winning six gold medals. She’ll be joined by fellow individual medalists Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.), along with A-Final participants Alyson Charles (Montreal, Que.) and Claudia Gagnon (La Baie, Que.). Montreal’s Camille De Serres-Rainville will make her return to international competition following a summer spent recovering from an ankle injury sustained late last season.
On the men’s side, double medalist Steven Dubois (Lachenaie, Que.) will be joined by Cédrik Blais (Châteauguay, Que.), Pascal Dion (Montréal, Que.), Charles Hamelin (Sainte-Julie, Que.), who skipped out on the Asian leg of the World Cup circuit to focus on training, and William Dandjinou (Verdun, Que.), who will use the competition as a final tune-up before he represents Canada at the ISU World Junior Short Track Championships in Bormio, Italy.
Canada’s top three ranked skaters, based on their highest classification in an individual distance after the first four World Cups, automatically earned a spot on the team. The remaining athletes were discretionary selections made by the high performance committee, in consultation with national team coaches. Together they’ll look to build upon the team’s early season success, in which they’ve captured 18 medals on the World Cup circuit, including five on home ice in Montreal this past November.
