Danaé Blais and Jordan Pierre-Gilles capture silver to round out five-medal day for Canada
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – The first day of finals at the ISU Short Track World Tour in Seoul proved fruitful for the Canadian Ice Maples. The team stormed out to impressive and insurmountable leads in several races, resulting in gold medals for William Dandjinou, Steven Dubois and the Women’s Relay squad. Danaé Blais and Jordan Pierre-Gilles were also silver medalists, adding to the podium results for Canada.
In a packed final of eight skaters in the men’s 1500m, Dandjinou (Montreal, Que.) manoeuvred his way to the front of the pack with five laps remaining. He did not relinquish the lead from that point forward, crossing the line in 2:14.313 to take the gold medal. While teammate Steven Dubois initially posted the second fastest time of the final, he was penalized for an inside pass upon review by the officials. That opened the door for Korea’s Park Jiwon (+0.43) and Jens van t’Wout of the Netherlands (+0.57) to take silver and bronze, respectively.
Dubois, of Terrebonne, Que., earned his revenge in the men’s 500m final later on Saturday. Starting from the second position, he catapulted to the lead off the line and held the position en route to victory in 41.681 seconds. Fellow Canadian Ice Maple Pierre-Gilles (Sherbrooke, Que.) joined his teammate on the podium in silver medal position (+0.08) after outstretching Latvian Roberts Kruzbergs (+0.12) at the finish line.
“I am really happy about my performance today. It feels good getting back onto the podium, particularly with Steven. Always an incredible moment sharing the podium with a teammate and friend. Really happy how I managed to accomplish that today.”Jordan Pierre-Gilles.
In women’s action, fresh of a victory in the 1000m at last weekend’s World Tour stop in Beijing, Danae Blais (Châteauguay, Que.) stormed to the front of the pack in the first lap of the race. She maintained the leader’s position until the final lap, when she was passed by Korean skater Kim Gilli. Blais crossed the line 0.13 seconds behind the reigning Crystal Globe champion’s time of 1:30.884 to capture the silver medal. Choi Minjeong of Korea was third (+0.17).
The final medal race on Saturday featured five strong teams in the Women’s Relay. Blais skated alongside Florence Brunelle, Courtney Sarault, and Kim Boutin to capture the Canadian team’s third consecutive victory on the World Tour circuit. Their time of 4:11.634 placed the Ice Maples comfortably ahead of the Italian Gladiators (+0.15) and the Korean White Tigers (+0.22).
“It was an incredible day! I skated with a lot of confidence. Winning a medal in Beijing last weekend really put me in the right mindset and I knew I had what it takes to win races. It’s one thing to win a medal, but it’s an entirely different game repeating that type of performance. It wasn’t a gold medal today, but I’m still very happy with my performance and the silver. And to win again with the girls in the relay was super special. It’s always a lot of fun to win as a team!”
Danaé Blais
After the first day of racing in Seoul, Dandjinou remains atop the overall Crystal Globe standings with 812 points, 286 ahead of his closest competitor, Park Jiwon of Korea. Blais is the top Canadian female in seventh position overall, while the Ice Maples maintain their stronghold as frontrunners in the team Crystal Globe ranking with an 882-point lead on the second-place Korean White Tigers.
The ISU Short Track World Tour in Seoul continues on Sunday with the Mixed Team Relay, Women’s 1500m and 500m, and Men’s 1000m and Relay. Races will be streamed live on CBC Sports beginning at 12:02 am ET.
Results
Men’s 500m
- Steven Dubois: 1st
- Jordan Pierre-Gilles: 2nd
- William Dandjinou: 10th
Women’s 1000m
- Danaé Blais: 2nd
- Florence Brunelle: 16th
- Kim Boutin: 17th
Men’s 1500m
- William Dandjinou: 1st
- Steven Dubois: 7th
- Félix Roussel: 8th
Relay
- Women’s: 1st
CONTACT
Alain Brouillette
Speed Skating Canada
communications@speedskating.ca
613-601-2630