Canadian skaters sharp on World Cup short-track circuit
Samuel Girard of Ferland-etBoilleau, Que., was golden Sunday, earning his first international medal of the season at a World Cup short-track speedskating event in Kazakhstan.
His time of 40.661 seconds in the men’s 500 metres earned him first place, a position he held from start to finish.
“It was an excellent day for me on a personal level and for Canada as a whole,” said Girard, who has won gold in the distance during each of the last four World Cup seasons. “We trained very hard after Salt Lake City because we didn’t get the results that we wanted. We came back stronger and it helped us achieve our best overall day to date.”
The mixed gender relay team — Girard, Kim Boutin, Cedrik Blais and Alyson Charles — also skated to a gold medal in a time of two minutes 39.615 seconds, the first in Canadian history. While the discipline was only introduced to international competition this season, it will be making its debut at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
The Canadians sat in second place for much of the final race, but a well-timed pass by Girard in the last corner earned the team top spot. Pascal Dion, Danae Blais and Steven Dubois joined the group on the podium, having competed in previous rounds of the mixed relay race. It marked the first World Cup medal for brother and sister duo Cedrik and Danae Blais.
Charles Hamelin earned his first World Cup medal of the season, skating with Girard, Dubois and Dion in the men’s relay. In an exciting race, the Canadians captured silver despite crossing the line third as the South Korean team was penalized for an arm push. Hamelin fell midway through the race, but was able to continue skating en route to a time of 6:56.75. Charle Cournoyer joined the group on the podium.
Boutin, Charles and Danae Blais teamed up with Camille De SerresRainville to earn the women’s relay team its second bronze medal of the season. The Canadians finished behind the Netherlands and South Korea with a time of 4:12.193.
Boutin also earned a bronze medal for Canada in the women’s 1,500 metres, her second podium finish of the weekend. The native of Sherbrooke, Que., posted a time of 2:28.476, finishing behind Min Jeong Choi of South Korea and Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands.
Elisabeth Maier slid to the silver medal and Jane Channell finished fourth as Canada’s women’s skeleton squad kicked off the World Cup season Sunday.
Calgary’s Maier tamed the challenging 16-corner Latvian track in a two-run time of 1:45.42 to secure second place. It was the 11th World Cup medal of her five-year career.
“I’m definitely happy with the result today. It was a steep learning curve, but I would not have had the result today if it wasn’t for the amazing team surrounding me,” said the 24-year-old Maier.
Russia’s Elena Nikitina took gold with a time of 1:45.12. Germany’s Tina Hermann squeaked out the bronze medal over Channell, from North Vancouver, B.C., who posted a time of 1:45.60.
Ottawa’s Mirela Rahneva was the only other Canadian in the field and finished 12th at 1:47.30.
Ottawa’s Isabelle Weidemann captured the silver medal in the women’s 5,000 metres Sunday, the final day of races at a World Cup long-track speedskating event in Poland.
It was her second individual podium of the season, adding to the 3,000-metre gold medal she earned two weeks ago in Tomakomai, Japan.
Weidemann skated a smooth race from start to finish, clocking in with a time of 7:06.19, a little over a second behind gold-medallist Esmee Visser (7:05.188) of the Netherlands. Natalia Voronina (7:08.686) of Russia rounded out the podium in bronze medal position, which pushed Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin into fourth (7:10.220).
Valerie Maltais of Saguenay, Que., came second in the Division B women’s 5,000 metres with a time of 7:17.628.
Toronto’s Jordan Belchos finished 12th in the men’s 10,000 metres. Graeme Fish of Moose Jaw, Sask., earned a third-place result in the Division B race with a time of 13:20.562. Calgary ’s Ted-Jan Bloemen finished 10th (13:38.552) in that same grouping.
Mikaela Shiffrin won a downhill skiing World Cup event for the third time in eight days, beating Petra Vlhova in the head-to-head final of parallel slalom Sunday.
The American star’s 48th career World Cup win — fourth on the women’s all-time list — was her third straight after back-to-back victories in the super-G speed discipline Saturday in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Dec. 2 in Lake Louise, Alta.
Erin Mielzynski of Collingwood, Ont., placed seventh, the top Canadian result of the day.
Roni Remme, also from Collingwood, missed a gate to finish 14th overall and Laurence St- Germain of St. Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que., had to face Shiffrin early, putting her in 22nd.