Canada Cup: Ouimette and Quevillon at the top

The best Canadian skaters who weren’t at the Canadian Championships earlier this season competed at the Canada Cup at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec from November 16 to 18.

By Florence Gauthier

Photos by Daniel Villeneuve

In this competition, the skaters had to collect the most points in the general ranking by skating in the 500m, 1000m and 1500m distances. The challenge of this competition was important for some of those skaters since the best juniors had the chance to qualify for the Canadian Junior Championships. Senior skaters were also present during the competition to continue their progression on the circuit.

Kélian Quevillon, unbeatable

On the women's side, Laval’s Kélian Quevillon, one of the youngest skater in the competition, won the three distances. In the 1500m, she was followed closely by Victoria Gareau who finished just 0.106 seconds behind. Ariane Fournier finished third to reach the podium in that distance. After a difficult first day, Rosalie Tremblay and Rikki Doak finished respectively in 2nd and 3rd place in the 500m on the second day of the competition. The surprise of the weekend occurred on the third day. After the A final had been restarted twice because of many falls, Anne-Clara Belley and Jade Quevillon, eldest of Kélian Quevillon, reached the podium. Belley finished in 2nd place while Jade Quevillon took 3rd place. After 2 distances, Anne-Clara Belley was 17th overall and Jade Quévillon 21st. At the end of the competition, they were respectively 5th and 10th overall.

Ouimette at the top, Roy finishes second

In the men’s overall standing, Alphonse Ouimette, a senior skater from Ontario, finished first thanks to his participations in every A final of the weekend. He went on the podium in the 1500m (2nd place) and the 1000m (1st place). The A final in the 500m was intense. After a single fall of Felix Roussel, Alphonse Ouimette placed his hand in front of Antoine Roy, who was 1st, which caused his own fall and a penalty. The reason for this penalty was "in the corner entry, line change from outside to inside causing a contact.’’ Antoine Roy, also a senior, left with a silver in the 500m and 1000m, which allowed him to finish in 2nd place overall. By winning gold in the 1500m, Manuel Falardeau managed to climb to third place overall. The biggest progress of the week-end in the men's competiton came from Hubert Marcotte. He had the best time of the finals in the 500m, while being in the C final. Then he won the bronze in the 1000m. After two distances, he was 17th in the overall rankings, but persevered and finished 6th overall.

You will be able to see some of these skaters at the Canadian Junior Short Track Championships from December 14th to 16th in Calgary.

The full results are available HERE

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