A look back at the Canadian selections: Sébastien Gagnon and Claudia Gagnon victorious

The best Canadian skaters who were not at the World championships took part in the Canadian national selections last weekend in Calgary.

Par Jackob Savard

Photo: Bill Christ

Precious points used to select the 2019-2020 Canadian national team were on the table last weekend at the Calgary Olympic Oval. All the distances (500m, 1000m and 1500m) were raced two times each and the worst result on any distance of every skater was removed to create the final ranking.

Sébastien Gagnon shined in the second half of the competition

Sébastien Gagnon, a current member of the Canadian national team found himself winning the overall ranking at the end of this three days competition. Twenty-three-year-old Gagnon saw his results getting better and better all through the weekend to climb the ranking and finish on a perfect note winning both the 500m (podium on the picture) and 1000m on Sunday. ''Even if it was an important competition, I just wanted to have fun. It's only before the last race that I started figuring I could win and that I wanted to win. I am proud that I was able to prove to myself that I could win races and competitions'' said Gagnon. 

Ontario’s Alphonse Ouimette, who’s been training with the ladies’ national team this season, had a great competition getting on four podiums on a possibility of six. His constancy helped him finish second overall just behind Gagnon. National development team member Jordan Pierre-Gilles finished third overall with his solid performances on 500m and 1000m. William Dandjinou, who recently participated in the World junior championships and Canada Games, finished in fourth place. The main highlight of his competition was his victory in the 500m (1). Keegan Christ from Saskatchewan and Manuel Falardeau from Quebec finished fifth and sixth both winning one of the six events of the weekend.

Claudia Gagnon won the ladies’ classification

National team member Claudia Gagnon from Saguenay, Quebec won the ladies’ overall ranking winning four of the six distances. The skater who raced in her first few World cup events this season added a second and a sixth place to her four wins. Pyeongchang 2018 olympian Jamie Macdonald finished second in the overall classification with one gold and three silver medals. Former national team member Genève Bélanger, who’s been challenged by injuries in the last two years, ended her comeback season with a third position at the canadian selections. She got on three podiums during the weekend and will most likely take back her spot on the national team. Danaé Blais and Audrey Phaneuf, both on the national team, finished fourth and fifth respectively. Blais, who like Gagnon took part in her first World cups in career this season won this weekend’s 1000m (2). New-Brunswick’s skater Rikki Doak finished in sixth place overall, thanks to her two bronze medals on 500m.

This weekend’s full results are available HERE

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