Speed Skating Canada – Canada hosting World Junior Championships in short track for first time since 2009

Claudia Heeney (#2 in light blue) during the 1500m qualification round at the short track speed skating Canadian Junior Championships at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, AB, on December 14, 2018. (Photo by Dave Holland, CSI Calgary Photos)

 

MONTREAL, QUEBEC – Speed Skating Canada is set to welcome 172 short track speed skaters from 36 different countries to Montreal this weekend for the 2019 ISU World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships. The event runs from January 25-27 at the Maurice Richard Arena.

It will mark the fourth time that Canada will host this prestigious international event since it’s inception 25 years ago, having previously done so in Calgary in 1995, Montreal in 1999 and Sherbrooke in 2009.

This weekend’s competition gets underway Friday with the qualification races for all individual distances and the relays. The 500m and 1500m finals will take place Saturday, while those for the 1000m, men’s 3000m relay and ladies 3000m relay are set for Sunday.

The ISU YouTube channel will be live streaming the races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday beginning at approximately 8:00am EST. A detailed event schedule and live results can be found on the ISU Results Portal.

Canadians looking for podium performances on home ice

In only a few days, eight up-and-coming Canadian skaters will compete on home ice in Montreal against the top junior aged competitors – all between 14 and 19 years of age – in the world. With the crowd behind them, this year’s talented crop of short trackers will be vying for the podium, motivated by the six medals won by Canada when the country last hosted the event a decade ago in Sherbrooke.

The Canadian women’s team is comprised of Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.), Claudia Heeney (Waterloo, Ont.), Hee Won Son (Calgary, Alta.) and Juliette Brindamour (Toronto, Ont.). Sarault and Heeney, the reigning Canadian junior champion, will participate in all three individual distances, Brindamour will skate in the 1000m and 1500m, and Son in the 500m.

Last year, Sarault was crowned vice-champion at the same event in Poland thanks to a pair of silver medals in the 1000m and 1500m, along with gold in the ladies’ relay. She became the first female skater to reach the overall podium since Kalyna Roberge was in bronze medal position in 2006. Marie-Ève Drolet is the only Canadian to ever be crowned overall world junior champion, accomplishing the feat in 2000 and 2001.

Prior to Sarault’s triple medal performance last season, the last women to find the podium in an individual race was Audrey Phaneuf, who brought home silver in the 1500m in 2015.

Meanwhile, the Canadian men’s team includes Nicolas Perreault (Sherbrooke, Que), William Dandjinou (Verdun, Que.), Matej Pederson (Calgary, Alta.) and Félix Pigeon (Saint-Pie, Que.). Pederson will skate in all three distances, while Perreault will do the 1000m and 1500m, Dandjinou the 500m and 1500m, and Pigeon the 500m and 1000m.

The last male skater to make it onto the overall podium was Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu, who earned the second overall ranking in 2010 thanks to four silver medals. Jean-François Monette and François-Louis Tremblay are the only Canadians to win the overall title, doing so in 1996 and 1998, respectively.

Recent individual medal winners on the men’s side include Steven Dubois, who won bronze in the 500m in 2016, and Sam Girard, who won a pair of silver medals in the 500m and 1500m Super Final in 2014.

Canada has also put forth some impressive performances in the relays at the junior level, winning medals in six of the last ten years.

For more information on this weekend’s event, including links to purchase tickets, please visit http://mondiauxjr2019.ca/en/.

Please see below the full list of athletes, in alphabetical order by last name, and the distances they will be skating in this coming weekend.

• Women’s Team
  • BRINDAMOUR, Juliette – 1000m, 1500m
  • HEENEY, Claudia – 500m, 1000m, 1500m
  • SARAULT, Courtney – 500m, 1000m, 1500m
  • SON, Hee Won – 500m
  •  
• Men’s Team
  • DANDJINOU, William – 500m, 1500m
  • PEDERSON, Matej – 500m, 1000m, 1500m
  • PERREAULT, Nicolas – 1000m 1500m
  • PIGEON, Félix – 500m, 1000m

Media

Alain Brouillette
Speed Skating Canada
Email: communications@speedskating.ca 
Phone: 613-601-2630