Canadian Championships: Blais dominates on 1000m, Sarault stays on target

The best skaters in Canada were back at the Maurice-Richard arena for the second day of racing at the Canadian Championships.

By Jackob Savard

Photo: Patrick Charbonneau

On the second day of racing, the skaters raced on two distances: 1000m and 1500m.

1000m (1)

Alyson Charles won the ladies' 1000m with a solid performance in the A final. Jamie Macdonald and Courtney Sarault finished second and third.

There was a lot of action in the men’s 1000m and some of the favourites like Steven Dubois and Mathieu Bernier were eliminated earlier than they would’ve liked. The A final included Cédrik Blais, Pascal Dion, Maxime Laoun, Charles Hamelin and Samuel Girard. Blais was dominant in the big final and managed to get his second win of the Championships. The young man from Châteauguay was extatic after two days of competition. "I had a tough summer and my confidence was low at the start of this competition but then I skated well on 1500m yesterday. I was happy about how I performed even though I was penalised. It brought my confidence up for the 500m. As for my 1000m today, I've never been that strong in a race against the big guys. I'm surprised and happy about my weekend so far." Pascal Dion collected his 3^rd medal in as many finals. Charles Hamelin took his first medal of the competition with the third place. 

1500m (2)

Alyson Charles, Renee Steenge, Jamie Macdonald, Danaé Blais, Courtney Sarault, Audrey Phaneuf and Claudia Gagnon battled it out in the ladies’ A final. Courtney Sarault won the race finishing ahead of Jamie Macdonald and Alyson Charles. Sarault, who represented Canada last year at the World junior championships, is highly impressive this weekend. 

Charles Hamelin won the men’s A final. It was an action packed race and a fall by Charle Cournoyer and Steven Dubois created a gap in the pack. Samuel Girard and Pascal Dion completed the podium of the distance. Dion was more than happy about his first two days of competition. "I used to see myself as the underdog but this year I've switched my way of thinking. I know I'm one of the best and I race to win, not to  finish second or third." 

Here are today's finals:

The Championships will end  tomorrow with the 1000m (2) and the 500m (2).

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