Speed Skating Canada – Veterans Hamelin, Girard and Boutin, along with newcomers Dubois, Charles and Sarault, to skate individual distances

 

Alyson Charles (#97), of Montréal, QC, skates in the 500m final during the ISU 2018 Short Track World Cup at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta on November 4, 2018. (Photo by Dave Holland, CSI Calgary Photos).

 

SOFIA, BULGARIA – Canadians will be aiming for the podium this weekend at the 2019 ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships – the final international event of the short track season – in Sofia, Bulgaria.

 

It will mark the third time that Bulgarian capital city will host the season finale, having previously welcomed the world’s best short track speed skaters in 1999 and 2010. Canadians who earned medals at those championships include Andrew Quinn, François Hamelin, François-Louis Tremblay, Kalyna Roberge and Marianne St-Gelais.

 

Kim Boutin (Sherbrooke, Que.), Alyson Charles (Montréal, Que.) and Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.) will each skate in the individual distances on the ladies’ side, while Steven Dubois (Lachenaie, Que.), Samuel Girard (Ferland-et-Boilleau, Que.) and Charles Hamelin (Sainte-Julie, Que.) will do the same for the men.

 

Those skaters will be joined by Kasandra Bradette (St. Félicien, Que.), Camille de Serres-Rainville (Montreal, Que.), Pascal Dion (Montréal, Que.) and Charle Cournoyer (Boucherville, Que.) for the men’s and ladies’ relays, respectively.

 

The veteran Hamelin will be competing in his team leading 16^th world championship, having captured an impressive 36 medals to date – 20 in individual distances, 9 in the relay and 7 in the overall rankings.

 

Also making their return to the world championship stage are Boutin and Girard, who will compete in their fourth and fifth championships, respectively. Girard, who earned overall bronze in 2017, has won a pair of silver medals in both individual and relay disciplines, while Boutin captured her only medals last year with bronze in 1500m and relay, finishing the event ranked seventh overall.

 

The final three spots in the individual distances were claimed by up-and-coming skaters Charles, Sarault and Dubois, who will all compete in the first world championship of their young careers. Despite their relative inexperience, the trio combined to win eight medals on the World Cup circuit this season, which includes four for Charles, three for Dubois and one for Sarault.

 

Canada won a total of six medals at last year’s world championships in Montreal, including three gold from Hamelin and bronze from Boutin and both relay teams. As a country, we have won 201 medals since the competition was inaugurated in 1976, putting us behind only South Korea (239) in the overall medal standings.

 

The event gets underway Friday with the qualifying rounds. The finals for the 500m and 1500m are set Saturday, while those for the 1000m and 3000m Super-Final, as well as for the men’s and ladies’ relay, take place Sunday.

 

CBC Sports and Radio-Canada will be live streaming the races on Saturday (7:00AM EST) and Sunday (8:00AM EST), and they will also be televised on CBC as part of the Road to the Olympic Games program on Sunday (1:00PM EST). A detailed event schedule and live results can be found on the ISU Results Portal.

 

Please see below the full list of athletes that will be participating at the 2019 ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships. A biography of each athlete can be found on the Speed Skating Canada website. 

 

Ladies Team

• BOUTIN, Kim (Sherbrooke, QC)
• BRADETTE, Kasandra (St. Félicien, QC)
• CHARLES, Alyson (Montréal, QC)
• DE SERRES-RAINVILLE, Camille (Montreal, QC)
• SARAULT, Courtney (Moncton, NB)

 

Men’s Team

• COURNOYER, Charle (Boucherville, QC)
• DION, Pascal (Montréal, QC)
• DUBOIS, Steven (Lachenaie, QC)
• GIRARD, Samuel (Ferland-et-Boilleau, QC)
• HAMELIN, Charles (Sainte-Julie, QC)

 

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MEDIA

Nicole Espenant
Speed Skating Canada
Email: communications@speedskating.ca 
Phone: 613-797-1630