Speed Skating Canada – MONTREAL, QUEBEC – Kim Boutin and Steven Dubois both won a pair of gold medals on opening day of the 2019 Canadian Short Track Championships presented by Intact Insurance.

Boutin of Sherbrooke, Que. claimed gold in the women’s 1500m with a time of 2:27,011, ahead of Courtney Sarault of Moncton, NB (2:27,317) and Danaé Blais of Châteauguay, Que. (2:27,408). The triple Olympic medalist followed that up with a second gold in the women’s 500m (43.932), besting Alyson Charles of Montreal, Que. (43.996) and national championship newcomer Rikki Doak of Fredericton, NB (44.114).
 
On the men’s side, Dubois of Lachenaie, Que. (2:24,719) made an impressive outside pass near the end of the 1500m finals to propel himself to gold, passing fellow medalists Maxime Laoun of Montreal, Que. (2:25,723) and Cédrik Blais of Châteauguay, Que. (2:25,772). Dubois (40.954) and Blais (41.893) found the same spots on the podium again in the 500m, with Pascal Dion of Montreal, Que. (41.034) finishing in silver medal position.
 
The 2019 Canadian Short Track Championships continues tomorrow at the Maurice-Richard Arena in Montreal with the 1000m and 1500m-2. The results from this event help determine which athletes qualify for the Racing Pool, from which Canada’s team for the ISU World Cups and World Championships is selected, and for other NextGen targeted international competitions.

“My objective was to go back to the basics. It was a very good race and I am happy with my result. I’m going to use the confidence that I’ve gained in that race for the rest of the distances.” – Kim Boutin

“I struggled a bit in the semi-finals, but learned from those mistakes and in the finals I executed my plan exactly how I envisioned. I knew the guys were going to play in the front of the pack and that the pace was going to slow down near the end of the race. Outside passes are my strength, so I told myself I was going to put myself in a good position and near the end make a move on the outside.” – Steven Dubois

ADDITIONAL RESULTS Claudia Gagnon (Saguenay, Que.): 5th in 1500m, 5th in 500m Sébastien Gagnon (Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Que.): 6th in 500m, 6th in 1500m Genève Bélanger (Montreal, Que.): 4th in 1500m, 7th in 500m Alphonse Ouimette (Spencerville, Ont.): 4th in 500m, 7th in 1500m Alyson Charles (Montreal, Que.): 8th in 1500m Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.): 4th in 500m Maxim Laoun (Montreal, Que.): 7th in 500m

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MEDIA CONTACT Alain Brouillette Speed Skating Canada communications@speedskating.ca 613-601-2630 RESOURCES Information Photo/Video Results Webcast