Photo: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Photo: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Four more world championship medals for Canadian short track speed skaters

Marianne St-Gelais won her fourth silver medal of the weekend while Charles Hamelin stepped onto the podium for the first time at the 2017 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands on Sunday.

In the women’s 1000m final, St-Gelais actually crossed the finish line in third place, but moved up one spot after South Korea’s Choi Min Jeong was penalized. The gold medal went to Great Britain’s Elise Christie, who earned her second world title of the weekend after winning the 1500m on Saturday. Home favourite Suzanne Schulting thrilled the Dutch crowd by taking the bronze.

In the five-woman final, St-Gelais had been at the back of the pack until the nine-lap race neared its end when she made her move to get into podium position. She adds the silver to those she had won in the 500m and 1500m a day earlier. It is St-Gelais’ first career world championship medal in the 1000m.

Read: St-Gelais and Girard win trio of silver medals at short track world championships

St-Gelais then raced in the 3000m superfinal, finishing fourth to secure another silver medal in the overall classification behind Christie. St-Gelais also finished second overall at last year’s world championships.

In the men’s 1000m final, Hamelin took the opposite approach of his fiancee, moving to the front of the pack early. But as the race went on, there was some bumping amongst the finalists. Hamelin ended up crossing the finish line in third place to take the bronze medal behind South Korea’s Seo Yi Ra and Hungary’s Shaoang Liu.

For the highly decorated Canadian skater, it is his 18th career world championship medal in an individual event and the eighth he has won in the 1000m. Hamelin had placed 11th in both the 500m and 1500m on Saturday.

In the men’s 3000m superfinal, Samuel Girard finished fourth, which helped him to win the bronze medal in the overall classification. The 20-year-old won 1500m silver on Saturday when he also posted a fourth place finish in the 500m. He was eliminated in the semifinals of the 1000m.