Florence Brunelle takes individual silver and skates alongside teammates to Mixed Relay bronze
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – As skaters across Canada gather to celebrate World Ice Skating Day on Sunday, December 15, they can take inspiration from the country’s top athletes who put forth an impressive display of talent and skill at the ISU Short Track World Tour in Seoul. A triple-medal day – gold for William Dandjinou, silver for Florence Brunelle, and bronze for the Mixed Relay – capped off a successful first half of the international season for the Canadian Ice Maples.
Skating in the final of the men’s 1000m, Dandjinou (Montreal, Que.) staked his claim at the front of the pack with four laps to go. The 23-year-old opened up a gap on the rest of the field that was never in jeopardy, crossing the line first in a time of 1:24.548 to capture the gold medal. Dandjinou was joined on the podium by Jens van ‘T Wout of the Netherlands (+0.193) and Korea’s Jang Sungwoo (+0.295).
“I didn’t want Jens [van ‘t Wout] to have the lead too early, so I managed to grab it from him. And then Roberts [Kruzbergs] coming on the outside of me was kind of to my advantage. I knew he would put the hammer down and the fast pace would prevent other passes. He is a very powerful skater, so I needed to surprise him a little bit, so that’s what I tried to do (with an out to in pass). I saw we had three or four laps to go, and I knew Kruzbergs was decelerating so people behind might be slowed down by him and he couldn’t immediately come again. So, I thought maybe this is the best time to drop the hammer to avoid them all coming back to me. It may have been less of a gamble to wait because they still had three laps to come back. But I didn’t feel comfortable waiting any longer.” William Dandjinou
In women’s action, Brunelle earned a well-deserved silver medal in the 500m. Despite rocketing into the lead off the starting line, the native of Trois-Rivieres, Que. was passed by the USA’s Kristen Santos-Griswold less than two laps into the race. The 20-year-old held on behind the American to finish 0.149 seconds off the winning pace of 43.362. Hanne Desmet of Belgium took the bronze medal (+0.229).
“Behind the scenes this week has been a hell of a ride. It gives me a lot of motivation to keep going because I want to get gold.”Florence Brunelle
Earlier in the day on Sunday, Brunelle and Dandjinou teamed up with Kim Boutin (Sherbrooke, Que.) and Steven Dubois (Lachenaie, Que.) to skate to a bronze medal in the Mixed Relay. Despite crossing the line in fourth (+0.477), the Canadians were promoted onto the podium after the Dutch team was penalized for an infringement against the Ice Maples. Hometown favourites the Korean White Tigers took gold in 2:38.036, narrowly ahead of the Chinese Loongs (+0.015) in a photo finish.
After the first four ISU Short Track World Tour events of the 2024-25 season, Dandjinou has a commanding lead in the race for the men’s Crystal Globe. His point total of 912 puts him comfortably ahead of Korea’s Park Jiwon (586 points). Dandjinou’s dominance this season is unparalleled. He is the only skater on the World Tour to have captured a gold medal in each distance, with seven individual victories to date.
“I am super happy with my results this weekend. It’s a nice way to close out the World Tour stops in Asia. The conditions are never optimal when we are overseas, but the support of my team helped me perform. I’m happy with the experience, with my personal results and with the results of the team. It’s really a cool feeling.”William Dandjinou
Based on their collective results, the Canadian Ice Maples maintain their lead in the Team Crystal Globe standings with a total of 6,116 points, well ahead of the Korean White Tigers (+668 points) and the Dutch Lions (+1,996 points). Danaé Blais, Florence Brunelle and Kim Boutin are currently ranked seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively, in the women’s individual standings.
The ISU Short Track World Tour resumes in the New Year, with the final two stops taking place in Europe. Tilburg in the Netherlands will host from February 7-9, 2025, before skaters head to Milan, Italy for the 2026 Olympic Games test event from February 14-16, 2025. These two competitions will provide skaters with the final opportunity to capture points toward the Crystal Globe and qualification for the ISU World Short Track Champions
Results
Women’s 500m
- Florence Brunelle: 2nd
- Kim Boutin: 5th
- Rikki Doak: 17th
Men’s 1000m
- William Dandjinou: 1st
- Jordan Pierre-Gilles: 7th
- Félix Roussel : 20th
Women’s 1500m
- Courtney Sarault: 7th
- Danaé Blais: 8th
- Florence Brunelle: DNS
Relay
- Mixed: 3rd
- Men: 7th
CONTACT
Alain Brouillette
Speed Skating Canada
communications@speedskating.ca
613-601-2630