Florence Brunelle Shines on Second Day of Canadian Short Track Championships
MONTREAL, QUEBEC – Florence Brunelle reached the top of the podium twice on the second day of the 2021 Canadian Short Track Championships presented by Intact Insurance in Montreal, earning a first-place finish in both the women’s 1000m (1) and 1500m (2).
The 17-year old followed up the first Canadian Championship podium of her career – a third-place result in yesterday’s 500m – with two gold medal performances, showing that, despite her age, she has a place alongside the country’s top skaters.
Brunelle was at the very back of the pack for much of the 1000m final but worked her way into contention and made a beautiful series of passes during the last few laps to overtake Courtney Sarault (1:29,248) and Kim Boutin (1:29,468), who finished second and third, respectively.
The native of Trois-Rivières, Que., also came out on top in an action-packed 1500m final, posting a time of 2:24,071 to defeat Sarault (
2:24,104) and Camille de Serres-Rainville (2:24,152).
On the men’s side, Steven Dubois – who won gold in all six distances during the last Canadian Short Track Championships in 2019 – earned his first win of this year’s event, brining home the top spot in the men’s 1000m with a time of 1:25,090. He was joined on the podium by Pascal Dion (1:25,131) and Maxime Laoun (1:25,226).
Meanwhile, 20-year old Sherbrooke, Que., native Nicolas Perreault – who was third in the first 1500m of the competition – climbed up onto the top of the podium in the second go-around of that distance (2:14,150), besting Dubois (2:14,155) in a photo-finish by only 0.005 seconds. Fellow Sherbrooke skater Jordan Pierre-Gilles joined them on the podium in third (2:14,369).
Ahead of Sunday’s races, current national team members Charles Hamelin and Danaé Blais were withdrawn from the event for an undetermined period due to medical reasons. They will both be re-evaluated in the coming days to determine whether they will be cleared to participate in future races at this competition.
Skaters will get a few days to rest before returning to the ice on Wednesday, August 25 for the 500m (2) and 1000m (2). The races will be live streamed on Speed Skating Canada’s YouTube channel and Facebook page starting at 10:50AM ET.
QUOTES
- “This morning’s victory in the 1000m really put me in the game mentally. And then I followed that up with a really close second place result in the 1500m. I’m really happy with my first two days of racing, it will reduce the stress I’m dealing with just a bit.” – Steven Dubois
- “I’m very proud of myself. I bought into my game plan 100% today and it brought me great results. I didn’t expect to win; just wanted to give my all and see what happens. Everything about this competition is a learning experience for me, so I’m going to continue preparing the same way and we’ll see how things turn out on Wednesday.” – Florence Brunelle
- “It’s definitely a surprise to win, but I knew I had the legs to do it today. I feel like I’m in top shape! I raced from the front, and it worked out well. I’m really happy with my performances so far. ” – Nicolas Perreault
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