MONTREAL, QUEBEC – The third day of racing at the 2025 Canadian Short Track Championships presented by Intact Insurance in Montreal saw a trio of familiar faces bring home gold medals, as Courtney Sarault continued her unbeaten streak on the women’s side with a pair of wins, while William Dandjinou and Félix Roussel traded victories on the men’s side.
Sarault (Moncton, N.B.) kicked off the afternoon by sprinting to her second 500m victory of the competition, posting her fastest time in the distance so far to win gold (0:42,520). She was joined on the podium by Danaé Blais (Châteauguay, Que.) and Victoria Jean-Baptiste (Laval, Que.), who crossed the line in 0:42,598 and 0:42,797, respectively. It marked the first medal of the event for both Blais and Jean-Baptiste, who are both currently ranked within the top 10 overall.
The 25-year-old Sarault followed that up with yet another win in the 1000m-2, her sixth across three days of racing. Her time of 1:27,681 helped her defeat Sherbrooke’s Kim Boutin (1:27,797) and Blais (1:27,942) in the final.
“I’m really happy and proud of myself. I didn’t get too high after my races last weekend. I saw it more as a stepping stone because I knew the job wasn’t done. This is a marathon, so I tried to ground myself after the weekend and recover as much as possible. Even though I had a good weekend, I want to put up a good fight and be the best version of myself every time I step on the ice, and I kept that attitude going today.”Courtney Sarault
Dandjinou (Montreal, Que.) repeated as 500m gold medalist on the men’s side, making a series of passes to move from third on the start line to first across the finish line. His time of 0:40,672 placed him ahead of Maxime Laoun (Montreal, Que.) and Philippe Daudelin (Trois-Rivières, Que.), both of whom benefited from a Félix Roussel (Sherbrooke, Que.) fall to move into in silver (0:40,859) and bronze (0:41,003) medal position, respectively.
Roussel got his redemption later in the evening by earning a victory in the 1000m-2 with a time of 1:24,358. It was Dandjinou who crashed out this time around, opening the door to Laoun and William Sohier (Quebec City, Que.), who finished the race not too far behind Roussel with times of 1:25,142 and 1:25,484, respectively. Sohier’s first medal of these Canadian Championships elevated him into seventh in the overall standings.
“After the first six distances, I thought I was skating well, but the results just weren’t there. I was making small mistakes that were costing me a lot, and my disqualification hurt me quite a bit too. But today, my luck changed. I was fortunate to get bumped into silver medal position in both my races after Félix and William fell in the last lap. They are still podiums, so I’ll take them. I’m pretty happy with my racing today.”Maxime Laoun
The 2025 Canadian Short Track Championships concludes this coming weekend, with the 1000m-3 on Saturday and the 1500m-3 and 500m-3 on Sunday. Races will be live streamed on Speed Skating Canada’s YouTube channels, as well as on CBC Sports and Radio-Canada Sports digital platforms.
Overall Rankings
Women
- Courtney Sarault = 30,000 points
- Kim Boutin = 21,760 points
- Florence Brunelle = 14,522 points
- Ann-Sophie Bachand = 13,662 points
- Danaé Blais = 13,437 points
Men
- William Dandjinou = 26,048 points
- Félix Roussel = 24,560 points
- Maxime Laoun = 15,140 points
- Mathieu Pelletier = 14,567 points
- Philippe Daudelin = 13,053 points
Media Contact:
Alain Brouillette
Speed Skating Canada
communications@speedskating.ca
613-601-2630