Short Track: Canadian women’s relay team win gold in Shanghai
The Canadian women’s short track relay team captured the gold medal on the final day of the ISU World Cup in Shanghai.
Kim Boutin and Steven Dubois both earned individual bronze medals, reaching the podium in the 1000m and 500m respectively.
READ: Short Track: Canadian women capture three medals to end World Cup in Nagoya
The relay team, composed of Alyson Charles, Courtney Sarault, Danaé Blais and Kim Boutin, finished with a time of 4:09.460 to win the gold medal for the first time since the 2014-15 season. It is the fourth medal of the season for the women but first gold medal victory. Previously, they have won three consecutive bronze medals before Shanghai.
The Netherlands (4:09.810) put up a tough fight, but could not overtake the Canadians, finishing with silver. The bronze went to the United States (4:13.280) after being upgraded from fourth due to a Korean disqualification.
READ: Short Track: Boutin remains undefeated in the 500m this season
READ: Short Track: Boutin skates to silver at Nagoya World Cup
Kim Boutin captured her first bronze medal of the season in the 1000m in a very tight finish. She has won a medal in all eight of her individual distance races this season, bringing her individual race count to six gold, one silver, and one bronze.
Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands took home gold after racing 1:29.089. Korea’s Whi Min Seo finished with the silver in 1:29.114, leaving Boutin to fight for bronze in 1:29.218.
On the men’s side, Steven Dubois captured the bronze medal in the 500m (2) with a time of 41.289. Dubois held the lead during the third lap but a skater from Kazakhstan fell coming out of the final turn, pushing Dubois back into a podium position. This is the first career medal in the 500m for Dubois. On Saturday in Shanghai, he finished just off the podium with fourth place in the 1500m.
The gold medal went to Hungary’s Shaolin Sandor Liu (40.722) and Korea’s June Seo Lee (40.904) captured the silver.
This marks the final day of competition in Shanghai. The Canadian team is back in action at the ISU Four Continents Short Track Championships from January 10-12 on home ice in Montreal. The next World Cup will take place February 7-9 in Dresden, Germany.
