MONTREAL, QUEBEC – Courtney Sarault and William Dandjinou were the top performers on the opening day of the 2025 Canadian Short Track Championships presented by Intact Insurance in Montreal, bringing home gold in the first of three 500m and 1500m races that were contested at the five day competition.
After cruising to victory in both her 500m quarterfinal and semifinal, Sarault (Moncton, N.B.) passed veteran Kim Boutin (Sherbrooke, Que.) midway through the final to secure first place (0:42.735) in the weekend’s first distance. Boutin finished the race in second place (0:42.940), while Ann-Sophie Bachand (Sherbrooke, Que.) rounded out the podium in bronze medal position (0:42.999).
The 25-year-old Sarault was equally as dominant in the 1500m later in the afternoon, a distance she earned silver in at the most recent World Championships. Her time of 2:27,448 placed her ahead of Florence Brunelle (Trois-Rivières, Que.) and Boutin, who crossed the finish line in 2:27,856 and 2:27,867, respectively.
“I don’t think I could have gotten off to a better start. Today was just an emotionally hard day. I feel at my best physically, but a lot of things on the mental side, which normally is my strength, I feel I was lacking. I was holding it together until I got the job done but broke down a bit at the end of the day after the 1500m final. I’m happy with the fact that I have two golds even though I don’t actually feel at my best mentally. I proved to myself that I can do anything when I put my mind to it and focus. I knew I was capable, but to actually do it makes me feel pretty grateful,” shared Courtney Sarault.
It was a similar story on the men’s side, where William Dandjinou stood atop the podium in both distances.
Despite starting fourth on the line on the 500m final, the 23-year-old Dandjinou (Montreal, Que.) was able to make a series of clean, high speed passes to overtake two of his competitors and move into the top spot before crossing the finish line. His time of 0:40,356 earned him gold, ahead of Félix Roussel (0:40,463) and Philippe Daudelin (0:40,528).
Dandjinou (2:13,573) and Roussel (2:13,615) were again neck and neck in the 1500m finals, with the reigning ISU Crystal Globe winner getting the better of his teammate by the slimmest of margins. Mathieu Pelletier (Laval, Que.), a 500m gold medalist at last season’s ISU World Junior Short Track Championships in Calgary, finished in third place with a time of 2:13,983.
“I am very satisfied, but honestly I don’t feel like I had a perfect start despite winning two gold. I still made a lot of mistakes. I know we say that at every Olympic selection event, but I honestly have never seen a Canadian Championships with a field as as competitive as this one. A special mention to my teammate Félix Roussel who was extremely tough today. Skating 39-seconds [in the 500m] at this time of the season is really impressive and it shows our potential as a team this season.”William Dandjinou
Racing at the 2025 Canadian Short Track Championships continues Sunday with the 1000m-1 and 1500m-2. Fans can watch the action live beginning at 1:30pm ET on Speed Skating Canada’s YouTube channels, as well as on CBC Sports and Radio-Canada Sports digital platforms.
Overall Rankings
Women
- Courtney Sarault = 10000 points
- Kim Boutin = 7200 points
- Florence Brunelle = 6560 points
- Ann-Sophie Bachand = 5760 points
- Danaé Blais = 3687 points
Men
- William Dandjinou = 10000 points
- Félix Roussel = 8000 points
- Philippe Daudelin = 5248 points
- Mathieu Pelletier = 4839 points
- Victor Roy-Lafrance = 4035 points
CONTACT
Alain Brouillette
Speed Skating Canada
communications@speedskating.ca
613-601-2630