Canadian Championships in short track: Boutin, Dubois and the rest

The Maurice-Richard arena in Montreal saw the best short track speed skaters in Canada battle it out during the weekend in hope of Canadian glory and a spot on the Canadian team for the upcoming World cup events coming in November. It’s with no surprise that Kim Boutin dominated the women’s side of the competition while Steven Dubois took control of the men’s side. 

By Carl Savard

Photos by Sébastien Cadorette and Carl Savard

Kim Boutin in another world

Even though Canada has a strong core of talented young skaters like Alyson Charles, Danaé Blais and Courtney Sarault, there is no doubt on who’s the Canadian queen in short track. Twenty-four-year-old Kim Boutin is in another world right now. A formality. That’s what it looked like for the fans. For the Sherbrooke native, that's not how it felt. "I didn't start the competition totally confident that I would win everything cause the girls really push me and are really fast in training, but once on the ice I want to win. That's who I am. The toughest races were probably the 500m because the girls are really strong. I want to use the new season to work on my flaws and continue to learn. I know I'm strong but there are things I want to work on to be even better and eventually become world champion." Boutin went six for six winning gold in every finals of the weekend.

Steven Dubois in total control

On this day a year ago, Steven Dubois looked quite surprised by his amazing results at the Canadian Championships. This year, Dubois looked like a veteran ready for the job and aware that he was the man to chase in this year’s championships. "I knew I had good chances to win by using one particular strategy but it's not what I wanted to do. I wanted to try things but still stay relaxed. I rarely feel like I have a target on my back because I often doubt myself. Last week I did the Elite competition and won it all so it helped with the confidence." Dubois as clear objectives for the new season and they are big ones. "I want to finish the season in first place in the world on 1500m. Last season I finished second so there is only one way up. I also want to be in the mix at the World championships. I won on the national level, now I want to win on the international scene." Just like Boutin, Dubois won six gold medals during the weekend.

Great showing by Doak and Dandjinou

"I raced like I had nothing to lose" says New Brunswick's Rikkie Doak who got on the podium twice this weekend winning the bronze medal on the first 500m and the second 1000m of the competition. "The last two seasons were difficult. Last year my friends were travelling and competing on the world stage and I was here, just training and I think I almost quit like four times during the year. I came with the goal of reaching as much A final as possible this weekend and I succeeded."

Still pretty young despite his imposing size, William Dandjinou made a big step forward in the last year. Unable to really battle with the bests last year, mainly due to the fact that he was invited to compete because of his Next Gen (next generation) status despite not doing the kind of times that could let him fight with the top Canadian skaters, Dandjinou gathered strong results this time around, including a bronze medal on the first 1000m final of the competition. When asked what had changed the most in the last year leading to his great tenure at the Canadian championships, Dandjinou insisted on going back two years. "My time at the training center in Laval skating with a good group, being coached by a great coaching team that was offering great support gave me the confidence that was necessary to offer performances that lead me to the RTC. (Regional Training Center). Then I was able to join the team and gathered experience by doing Next Gen competitions in Italy and the Netherlands and do the World junior championships. Older skaters have the success of the team at heart and they are really helpful. This weekend, I had to choose between playing safe or being ambitious and went for the second option and finished with a great ranking. I am happy with my results but know I still have things to work on to be even better." 

For full results click HERE

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