Jordan Pierre-Gilles, Steven Dubois and Courtney Sarault fall just short of individual podiums
| Credit: International Skating Union |
DORDRECHT, NETHERLANDS – Cédrik Blais earned the best result of his young career at the World Cup Short Track in Dordrecht on Saturday, winning a silver medal in the men’s 1000m. Three other Canadians reached the A-Finals in their respective distances but fell just short of the podium.
Blais of Châteauguay, Que. crossed the line in bronze medal position with a time of 1:33.739 but was upgraded to silver after Korean skater Park In Wook, who originally finished second, was penalized for a push from behind on eventual bronze medalist Itzhak de Laat of the Netherlands (1:54.183). Fellow Korean Kim Dagyeom (1:33.056) was the gold medalist.
The silver medal performance marked the best result of Blais’ career. The 23-year old 500m specialist won a pair of bronze medals in the shorter distance last season, while his best finish in the 1000m before today was an eighth-place result in Torino last February.
Teammate Jordan Pierre-Gilles of Sherbrooke, Que., was close to joining Blais on the podium but lost his balance during the fifth lap of the final race and had to settle for a fourth-place finish (2:07.998). It was the first A-Finals appearance for Pierre-Gilles, 21, who has earned four top-10 results in his first four career World Cups.
Perennial medalist Steven Dubois (Lachenaie, Que.) and Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.), who have reached the podium a combined seven times, both fell short in their A-Finals on Saturday. Dubois lost speed avoiding a fallen skater and couldn’t catch up to the pack, finishing fifth in men’s 1500m. Meanwhile, Sarault was in a podium position going into the final lap of the women’s 1500m finals, but couldn’t hold off a pair of Korean skaters, who passed her and pushed her into the fifth spot. She was later penalized for making contact on a pass, finishing the distance ranked seventh.
Other Results to Note
- Danaé Blais (Châteauguay, Que.) won the 1500m B-Final with a time of 2:27.394, ranking her eighth overall in the distance. Teammate Claudia Gagnon (La Baie, Que.) finished fifth in that same race and 12th overall.
- Rikki Doak (Fredericton, N.B.) was fourth in the 1000m B-Final and ninth overall in the distance. She completed the race in 2:02.530 after getting tripped up mid way through.
- Canada’s mixed gender relay team – consisting of Pierre-Gilles, Sarault, Alyson Charles (Montreal, Que.) and William Dandjinou (Verdun, Que.) – won the B-Final with a time of 2:43.570, ahead of the United States and Great Britain.
- The men’s and women’s relay teams both qualified for Sunday’s finals, posting times of 7:09.084 and 4:09.540 in their semifinals, respectively
The ISU World Cup Short Track in Dordrecht concludes tomorrow with the finals for the 500m and 1000m(2), along with those for the men’s and women’s relays. The races will be live streamed on CBC Sports beginning at 7:00AM EST.
“I’m obviously very happy! My season didn’t start off the way I had hoped.
I hadn’t qualified for any A-Finals, but this is my second one since last weekend. I managed to reach the second step of the podium today, which makes me quite happy.” – Cédrik Blais – Cédrik Blai
“I’m very happy with today’s result. At the start of the day I didn’t have the best feeling, but I stayed calm and made good decisions to make it all the way to the A-Final. Unfortunately, I fell once I got there. I didn’t feel right on my blades, so I’m a little disappointed with that, but it’s still my first-ever A-Final. I appreciated the moment and can’t wait to get there again.”
– Jordan Pierre-Gilles
RESULTS
- Cédrik Blais (Châteauguay, Que.): 2nd in 1000m
- Jordan Pierre-Gilles (Sherbrooke, Que.): 4th in 1000m
- Steven Dubois (Lachenaie, Que.): 5th in 1500m
- Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.): 7th in 1500m
- Danaé Blais (Châteauguay, Que.): 8th in 1500m
- Rikki Doak (Fredericton, N.B.): 9th in 1000m
- Claudia Gagnon (La Baie, Que.): 12th in 1500m
- Alyson Charles (Montreal, Que.): 19th in 1000m
- Pascal Dion (Montreal, Que.): 23rd in 1000m
- Charles Hamelin (Saint-Julie, Que.): 27th in 1500m
- William Dandjinou (Verdun, Que.): 51st in 1500m
MEDIA CONTACT
Alain Brouillette
Speed Skating Canada
communications@speedskating.ca
613-601-2630
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