Boutin and Dubois crowned 2021 Canadian champions

The 2021 Canadian Short Track Championships came to an end today at the Maurice-Richard Arena in Montreal. 

Text: Jackob Savard

Photo: Antoine Saito 

At this national competition, the top 20 skaters in the country had to compete three times on every distance in order to collect points to qualify for the six-skater racing pool from which the athletes who will go to the 2022 Olympics will be chosen. The best two races of the best two distances for every skaters were kept for the overall classification.

Dubois Canadian Champion

Steven Dubois was crowned Canadian champion at the end of the five days of racing. During the selections, he won four distances and finished second four times. The skater from Lachenaie, Quebec will lead the Canadian men's team at the 2022 Olympic Games. Pascal Dion and Jordan Pierre-Gilles rounded out the men's top three with two and one win respectively. 

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Boutin in a class of her own in the women's competition

Sherbrooke's Kim Boutin dominated the selections by winning five distances. New Brunswick's Courtney Sarault took second place, winning the 500m (3) and 1500m (3) on the final day of competition. Seventeen year old Florence Brunelle of Trois-Rivières won two distances and finished third overall.

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Dandjinou’s comeback on the last day

William Dandjinou went from 7th place to 4th place on the last day to invite himself in the discussions for the 2022 Olympic team. On Sunday, he won the 500m (3) in brilliant fashion with a spectacular last lap pass on Steven Dubois and finished second in the 1500m (3). If Olympic selections are about who can race under pressure, it is clear that young Dandjinou proved he was able to do so today.

Speed Skating Canada will officially announce the 6 men and 6 women who will join the racing pool. It should be noted that skaters who did not finish the competition such as Charles Hamelin, Danaé Blais or Maxime Laoun could still join this group by discretionary choices or byes. 

Full results

Race replays

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Four down, five to go - 2021 Canadian short track championships

The 2021 Canadian Short Track Championships started last Saturday at the Maurice-Richard Arena in Montreal. 

Text: Jackob Savard

Photo: Antoine Saito 

At this national competition, the top 20 skaters in the country must compete on every distance three times in order to collect points to qualify for the six-skater racing pool from which the athletes who will go to the 2022 Olympics will be chosen. For the younger skaters, this competition also serves as a qualifier for the NextGen team.

In the first two days of racing held Saturday and Sunday, the 1500m (1), 500m (1), 1000m (1) and 1500m (2) were on the program. 

Dubois and Dion lead in the men's competition

Quebecers Steven Dubois and Pascal Dion are currently tied at the top of the men's rankings. They respectively won the 1000m (1) and the 1500m (1) while placing well in the other distances. Nicolas Perreault, who won the 1500m (2) on Sunday, and Jordan Pierre-Gilles, who won the 500m (2) on Saturday, are just behind. Maxime Laoun rounds out the top 5 and will be one to watch in the remaining distances. 

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Brunelle and Boutin lead the way in the women's championship

In the women's event, Florence Brunelle was really impressive and skated to a perfect day on Sunday with wins in the 1000m (1) and 1500m (2). The 17-year-old is tied for the lead with three-time Olympic medalist Kim Boutin, who won both distances on Saturday. Alyson Charles, Courtney Sarault and Camille Deserres-Rainville are currently in positions 3 to 5. 

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Hamelin and Blais out of competition

Speed Skating Canada announced on Sunday morning that Charles Hamelin and Danaé Blais will not continue with the Olympic trials due to medical concerns. On Saturday, Blais was on the starting line for her first qualifying heat, but immediately went into the center of the ice and did not complete the distance. Hamelin was 14th after the first day of racing with a fall in the 1500m final and a penalty in the 500m. Both skaters could still be selected in the racing pool. 

The athletes will race two more distances on Wednesday and will then conclude with the remaining three distances on Saturday and Sunday. 

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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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Significant increase in registrations at Canadian Roller Championships

It’s too early to know if the interest for roller in Canada is clearly on the rise or if it’s presently at the top of wave like it happened in the past, but Canadian athletes and aficionados have many reasons to smile this summer. 

By Carl Savard

Photos by Carl Savard and Jordan Belchos /Instagram

It’s at the aspalted track of the Centre de la Nature in Laval, Quebec that were held the 2019 Canadian inline championships on the weekend of August 10. If the capricious weather made things a bit more complicated on Saturday, Sunday’s weather was flawless offering a perfect opportunity for skaters to try and collect one of the national titles available during the competition. It was not a surprise to see skaters such as Julien Armand and Jérôme Comtois-Urbain fight each other to climb on the highest step of the podium, but it may not have been the highlight of the weekend. After down years in 2017 and 2018, about sixty athletes registered for the Canadian championships in 2019. Skaters from different age groups and coming from Quebec, Ontario and Nova-Scotia battled it out during the competition. Words at the event were that the sport is also presently developing in Alberta and British-Columbia. With the first edition of the Canada Roller Marathon coming up in less than a month and the success of this year’s national championships, it would be hard for Pierre Laurent and the entire team of the VRL Club not to be happy about this 2019 season.

For the results of the 2019 Canadian championships, click HERE.

For pictures click HERE

Great  news for the Canada Roller Marathon

After presenting Valérie Maltais as their ambassador a few weeks back and confirming the presence of Pascal Briand, Darren De Souza, Anaïs Laurent and Pierre Laurent, the organizing committee had other names to announce in the last few days. Nicolas Laborde Sanchez who represents Colombia on ice in short track on the World cup circuit will be there. Hugo Gerard who finished in the top 10 of the marathon at the World inline cup in Dijon this year and 20th at the World championships will also compete. Last but not least, silver medallist on ice at the 2015 World championships in long track and bronze medallist on wheels at the 2015 Panam games, Jordan Belchos will also fight for gold in September. Belchos used his Instagram account yesterday to invite athletes to register for the first edition of the Canada Roller Marathon.

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Howe and Scott Canadian long track junior champions

Alberta’s Connor Howe and Manitoba’s Alexa Scott won the Canadian long track speed skating championship last weekend in Calgary.

By Jackob Savard
Photo: Bill Christ

To crown the overall ranking champions, every skater competed on 500m, 1000m, 1500m and in the long distances (3000m for the ladies and 5000m for the men).

Howe will lead the Canadian squad

Calgarian speed skater Connor Howe was racing in the Canada cup for a chance to qualify for the senior world championships but his times were also counting for the junior championships. With his fast times, he was the best junior skater on three of the four events to seal the deal and win the overall Canadian junior champion title. He established a new canadian junior record of 1:44.16 on 1500m. Howe will compete in his third World junior championships in career. Seventeen-year-old skater from Quebec Hubert Marcotte had a solid weekend of racing and will most likely represent Canada at the World junior championships as he finished 2nd in the overall ranking. He collected a podium on every distances of the weekend. Alberta’s Jack Deibert took the 3rd place in the overall ranking thanks to a strong silver medal performance on 5000m.

Alexa Scott perfect

Manitoba’s Alexa Scott won every distances of the ladies’ competition with a good gap and will represent Canada for the second time at the World junior championships. Her closest rivals were Quebec's skaters Gabrielle Jelonek and Ophélie Juneau who took the 2nd and 3rd place of the overall ranking. Jelonek, who took part in last year’s World junior championships got three silver medals and a bronze medal. Juneau got three 3rd place and a fourth place. We’ll probably see them race in Baselga di Piné, Italy!

The overall ranking winners had an automatic spot on the World junior championships team and at least three skaters of each gender will be chosen by Speed skating Canada to join them based on their performance at the Canadian junior championships. Speed skating Canada will confirm their official junior team in the next few weeks.

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Bloemen, Weidemann capture 5000m and 3000m Canadian titles

As the first day of the Canadian Single Distance Championships kicked off in Calgary this afternoon new men's 5000m and women's 3000m champions were crowned.

By: Maria Dalton

Photos By: Schaats Foto's

There was a mix of young and old skaters in action today as some of Canada’s rising stars sought to compete alongside veteran skaters.

Bloemen, Belchos dominate in the 5000m

Olympic champion and world record holder Ted-Jan Bloemen retained his title as Canadian champion in the 5000m with his time of 6:21.62. Jordan Belchos of Ontario was close behind his compatriot with his time of 6:21.89 and finished in second place. Graeme Fish posted a time of 6:28.46 after finishing strong in the final few laps to beat out Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu of Quebec for the bronze medal. Kaleb Muller rounded out the top-5 with his time of 6:32.93.

Weidemann captures the women's 3000m title

Skating in the second pair, Isabelle Weidemann posted a time of 4:02.68 to take home the 3000m title. Two-time Olympian Ivanie Blondin finished in second place, nearly 7-seconds behind Weidemann with her time of 4:09.71. Valerie Maltais, who is a decorated short track skater and made the switch to long track this season, rounded out the top-3 in the bronze medal position with her time of 4:10.42. Keri Morrison (4:10.94) and Abigail McCluskey (4:14.36) rounded off the top-5 in 4th and 5th position, respectively.

M5000m:

1 – Ted-Jan Bloemen (6:21.62)

2 – Jordan Belchos (6:21.89)

3 – Graeme Fish (6:28.46)

4 – Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu (6:30.00)

5 – Kaleb Muller (6:32.93)

6 – Hayden Mayeur (6:33.73)

7 – Jake Weidemann (6.35.39)

8 – Matthew Laxton (6:58.90)

W3000m:

1 – Isabelle Weidemann (4:02.68)

2 – Ivanie Blondin (4:09.71)

3 – Valerie Maltais (4:10.42)

4 – Keri Morrison (4:10.94)

5 – Abigail McCluskey (4:14.36)
6 – Beatrice Lamarche (4:15.85)

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