Charles Hamelin ends World Cup career with silver medal in men’s relay
Kim Boutin and women’s relay team also earn silver medals on the final day of World Cup action
DORDRECHT, NETHERLANDS – The legendary Charles Hamelin capped off his illustrious World Cup career with a silver medal in the men’s relay on Sunday in Dordrecht, a fitting farewell from the international circuit for one of the sports most decorated athletes.
Hamelin, Pascal Dion, Steven Dubois and Maxime Laoun looked poised to repeat as gold medal winners in the 5,000m relay, as they did last weekend in Hungary, but Dubois (6:46.963) was narrowly outstretched at the finish line by Korea’s Kwak Yoon-Gy (6:46.940), unseating the Canadians atop the podium.
While not the colour they were aiming for, the silver medal helped Canada secure the top spot in the World Cup rankings (28,000 points) and earned 20-year old William Dandjinou, who skated in the quarterfinals, the first World Cup medal of his career.
Sunday’s medal in the men’s relay also increased Hamelin’s career World Cup medal tally to 142 (58 gold, 42 silver, 42 bronze), which includes 84 in individual distances (37 gold, 21 silver, 26 bronze) and 58 in the relays (21 gold, 21 silver, 16 bronze). He has also claimed overall individual distance titles in the 2009-10 (500m), 2012-13 (500m) and 2013-14 (1000m, 1500m).
While his time on the World Cup circuit is coming to an end after 19 seasons, the native of Sainte-Julie, Que., is slated to compete at this winter’s Olympics in Beijing and World Championships in Montreal, before hanging up his skates for good.
Canada reached the podium two additional times on the final day of World Cup action.
The women’s 3,000m relay team of Kim Boutin, Courtney Sarault, Alyson Charles and Florence Brunelle won silver (4:06.102). They were deadlocked with the powerful Dutch squad (4:05.813) until the very end of the race, but were unable to find an opportunity to pass.
And after winning gold in yesterday’s 500m, Boutin returned to the podium on Sunday with a silver medal performance in the 1000m. The 26-year old Sherbrooke native finished the race in 1:28.510 to capture her first medal in the distance of the season. She was joined on the podium by Korea’s Choi Minjeong (1:28.417) and Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands (1:28.666), while her teammate Sarault (1:29.235) was bumped up to fourth-place after Poland’s Natalia Maliszewska was penalized.
On the men’s side, Pascal Dion was the top ranked Canadian in the 1000m, finishing just off the podium in fourth-place (1:24.026). Despite missing out this weekend, the Montreal native won one silver and two bronze medals this season and ended the World Cup campaign ranked first overall in the distance, capturing the first World Cup title of his career.
Canada’s short track team ended their Olympic qualification campaign with 17 medals. All three relay teams finished the season ranked within the top-5, which earns them each a quota spot for Beijing 2022. Individual distance quota spots – which will help determine how many Canadian skaters can be nominated for the Olympic team – will be allocated by the ISU in the coming days.
Select members of Canada’s short track team will return to action at the ISU Four Continents Championships from January 14 to 16 in Salt Lake City, while members of the NextGen team will compete at the upcoming FISU Winter Universiade in Lucerne from December 11 to 21.
Select members of Canada’s short track team will return to action at the ISU Four Continents Championships from January 14 to 16 in Salt Lake City, while members of the NextGen team will compete at the upcoming FISU Winter Universiade in Lucerne from December 11 to 21.
- It was a really fun weekend. I was sharp in everything I did. My races have given me confidence and shown me what I can do, even at my age. I am still able to compete with anyone and I can win any race. I didn’t necessarily get the results I wanted in some of my races, but that’s not what matters. It’s to be my best at the Games in a few months. I would have liked to have had better results, but we still ended up with a silver medal in the relay today!” – Charles Hamelin
- “It was my last day [on the World Cup circuit] and I knew I only had a few races to do because I wasn’t qualified for the 1000m, so I tried to breathe slowly and look around me to really soak up the energy of the competition because it was my last one. I know what I have accomplished at the World Cups, but I am living in the moment and focused on what I have to do. I think my accomplishment will really sink in when I stop skating for good, but when the announcer at the arena mentioned it during the competition it really stirred up some emotions. It’s always heartwarming to hear that sort of thing.” – Charles Hamelin
- “I was sure to finish first in the 1000m rankings, so there was really no pressure today. My coach and I decided that I was going to try a new strategy to see if it would work. The goal was to gain experience and race in a different way. Of course, the result was not there, but I was still satisfied. In all my years on the World Cup circuit, I have never made a top-10 in the overall rankings, so to finish first is a new feeling. I didn’t expect to be in position to have a result like this this year.” – Pascal Dion
- “I’m very happy that I was able to regain some confidence at this distance [1000m]. I’m happy to be on the podium, it feels good! All season we have seen the Dutch dominated in the relay. We’re at a point where we wanted the gold medal so badly that we are a little angry with our result. We had a really good race, but I think we still need to fine-tune the timing of our exchanges and our relay order. That will be the focus for us in the coming months.” – Kim Boutin
CANADIAN RESULTS
Women’s 1000m
- Kim Boutin 2nd
- Courtney Sarault 4th
- Alyson Charles 21st
Men’s 1000m
- Pascal Dion 4th
- Jordan Pierre-Gilles 11th
- Charles Hamelin 34th
Relays
- Men’s 2nd
- Women’s 2nd
- Mixed 5th
MEDIA CONTACT
Alain Brouillette
Speed Skating Canada
communications@speedskating.ca
613-601-2630