Canada sweeps
Olivier Jean led a Canadian sweep in the men’s 500 metres on Sunday at an ISU short track speed skating event in Moscow.
Jean took the gold medal, Liam McFarlane claimed silver and Charles Hamelin won the bronze.
“This is our second podium sweep of the World Cup season. It goes to show the depth of the Canadian team,” Jean, of Lachenaie, Que., said after posting a time of 41.080 seconds. “I believe we would have liked for everyone to stay on their skates in the final. There was some back luck.”
Jean was referring to Hamelin, who won the bronze despite falling.
Mcfarlane, of Medicine Hat, winning his first individual World Cup medal, was 0.157 seconds behind for second place. Hamelin, of SainteJulie, Que., was third in a time of 1:12.418. American Simon Cho was penalized and had to settle for fourth place.
The Canadian men also won gold in the relay finishing in 6:46.739. Korea was second (6:50.704) and China third (6:50.848) ◗ — both teams had falls in the final.
“It was a good race from the start,” said Guillaume Bastille of Riviere-duLoup, Que. “We followed the game plan of trying to stay in the lead. We controlled the race pretty well. There were a lot of falls, but we stayed out of trouble by staying out front.”
Bastille was joined on the Canadian team in the final by Jean, Hamelin and Remi Beaulieu, of Alma, Que. Mcfarlane and Francois-louis Tremblay of Alma skated in earlier races to also earn a gold medal.
No Canadian women made the podium, with the Canadian relay team finishing second, but ending up fourth after a penalty.
Marianne St. Gelais of St. Felicien, Que., was fourth in the 500 metres and in a crowded six-skater 1,500-metre final, Marie-eve Drolet of Laterrirre, Que., was fifth.
Kershaw sixth in skiathlon
Rybinsk, Russia / Devon Kershaw finished sixth on Sunday in a skiathlon at a FIS World Cup cross-country ski event in Rybinsk, Russia.
Kershaw, of Sudbury, Ont., was 10 seconds behind the winner, Maxim Vylegzhanin of Russia.
“The plan is to stay near the front and out of trouble because it can get really tight out there,” Kershaw said prior to the race, which consists of 15 kilometres of classic skiing and 15 kilometres of skate skiing.
Alex Harvey of St-ferreol-les-neiges, Que., was eighth in 1:20:48.1. Ivan Babikov of Canmore was 19th in 1:21:24.7.
And …
American Julie Mancuso won a super-g on Sunday for her first World Cup victory of the season, while Lindsey Vonn skied off the course and did not finish.
Romed Baumann held off a strong challenge from Frenchman Alexis Pinturault to win Sunday’s World Cup super-combined race for his second career victory.