37-year old Charles Hamelin to compete in the final event of his legendary career
MONTREAL, QUEBEC Canadas Olympic short track speed skating team will have the opportunity to skate together one last time at this weekends ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Montreal, which is set for April 8-10 at the Maurice Richard Arena.
The same 10 skaters that represented Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing have been selected to take part in the World Championships, which will be the first international short track event hosted in Canada in over two years. It will also mark the first opportunity for Canadian athletes to compete in front of family and friends since the start of the pandemic.
Canada will have three men and three women competing in individual distances this weekend, with two additional skaters per gender hitting the ice as part of the relay teams. The Canadian team will be one of 28 nations competing in this final event of the 2021-2022 season.
Leading the charge for the womens team is Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.), who was crowned vice-champion at last years World Championship in Dordrecht. She will skate alongside four-time Olympic medalist Kim Boutin (Sherbrooke, Que.) and Alyson Charles (Montreal, Que.) in individual distances, while teammates Florence Brunelle (Trois-Rivires, Que.) and Dana Blais (Chteauguay, Que.) will join them for the womens 3000m relay.
On the mens side, Beijings triple Olympic medalist Steven Dubois (Lachenaie, Que.), 1000m World Cup rankings leader Pascal Dion (Montreal, Que.) and Jordan Pierre-Gilles (Sherbrooke, Que.) will skate the individual distances. They will be joined in the mens 5000m relay by fellow Olympic gold medalists Charles Hamelin (Sainte-Julie, Que.) and Maxime Laoun (Montreal, Que.).
These World Championships will mark the final event of Hamelin’s legendary career, as the 37-year old veteran will retire from short track speed skating following the competition. He will look to guide the men’s relay team onto the podium on Sunday and capture his 38th career World Championships medal on home ice.
Tickets for the event are selling quickly, so buy yours now via TicketPro and help us pack the stands for this incredible celebration of amateur sport!
For those not able to attend in person, Saturday and Sunday’s races will be live streamed on CBC Sports and Radio-Canada Sports starting at 1:30 PM ET. CBC will also have television coverage of the event beginning at 4:00 PM on both days.
For more information on the ISU World Short Track Championships in Montreal, visit speedskating.ca.
Speed Skating Canada and the Quebec Speed Skating Federation would like to acknowledge the support and financial contributions of partners such as the International Skating Union, Government of Canada, Government of Quebec, City of Montreal and Tourism Montreal.
MEDIA CONTACT
Alain Brouillette
Speed Skating Canada
communications@speedskating.ca
613-601-2630