Dubois defends 500m gold, Canada wins three medals at short track worlds
Canada won three medals at the 2026 ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships this past weekend on home ice in Montreal.
Just a few weeks after he became the Olympic champion in the men’s 500m, Steven Dubois won his second straight world title in the distance. He had chosen to focus on the 500m as his sole individual event at the world championships after battling illness since returning home from Milano Cortina 2026, a decision that proved wise.
Dubois had the advantageous inside starting position in the final after cruising to victory in both his quarterfinal and semifinal. The 28-year-old blasted off the start line and won the gold in 40.153 seconds ahead of Jens van ‘t Wout of the Netherlands and Furkan Akar of Türkiye.
“Honestly, I really don’t know what to say as I wasn’t expecting this at all. I did not expect this after the beginning of the season I had,” said Dubois. “The Olympic Games were a big high for me, but I was brought back down to earth when I got back, getting sick twice since my return. I got here today and the crowd was super hyped. It feels really nice to defend the ‘fastest man in the world’ title in front of them.”
Dubois joined Charles Hamelin and François-Louis Tremblay, who were also twice world champions, as the only Canadians to win multiple world titles in the men’s 500m.
Dubois added another gold medal in the men’s 5000m relay alongside William Dandjinou, Félix Roussel, and Maxime Laoun. It is Canada’s second straight world title in that event. Canada held the lead when Laoun took the final exchange and did everything he could to hold that position. At the finish line, Rim Jong-un of South Korea made one final attempt to get past Laoun, sending the Canadian crashing into the boards. But a video review resulted in a penalty for an arm block, giving Canada the gold medal.
Dubois and Dandjinou also won silver in the mixed relay final with Florence Brunelle and Danaé Blais, matching Canada’s Olympic result. Roussel and Courtney Sarault were also medallists after racing in earlier rounds of the event.
Earlier in the day, Dandjinou had been on the opposite side of a penalty call in the men’s 1000m final when a stretch move at the line was determined to have impeded Rim, costing the Canadian the gold medal.
There was some heartbreak in the final of the women’s 3000m relay. Four-time Olympic medallist Sarault lost an edge during an inside pass attempt by a Chinese competitor with just two laps remaining. Officials deemed there wasn’t enough contact to warrant a penalty, so the quartet of Sarault, Brunelle, Blais, and Kim Boutin finished fourth.
The emotional moment of the weekend came when Boutin appeared in the final race of her illustrious career. Despite placing fifth in the B final of the women’s 500m, the six-time Olympic medallist received a standing ovation from her hometown fans one last time.
Dandjinou, Roussel, and Laoun all reached the final of the men’s 1500m but came away empty handed. Dandjinou was leading when he fell with three laps to go. Roussel then exited a corner too wide, allowing three skaters to squeeze by him. Laoun finished just off the podium in fourth place. Sarault was Canada’s top performer in the women’s 1500m, also finishing fourth.
This concludes the long short track speed skating season in which Canada won five Olympic medals and reached the podium 31 times on the ISU Short Track World Tour to win the men’s (Dandjinou), women’s (Sarault), and team Crystal Globes.
