Danaé Blais won a pair of gold medals on Saturday in what was a very successful day for Canadians at the short track speed skating World Tour event in Beijing on Saturday.
Châteauguay, Que., native won 1st individual gold of her career, added another in relayCBC Sports
· Posted: Dec 07, 2024 8:22 AM EST | Last Updated: December 7
Canadian Danaé Blais, shown in this file photo, will leave Beijing with a pair of gold medals following wins on the short track World Tour on Saturday. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)Danaé Blais won a pair of gold medals on Saturday in what was a very successful day for Canadians at the short track speed skating World Tour event in Beijing on Saturday.
The Châteauguay, Que., native was first across the line in the final of the women’s 1,000m event, skating to a time of one minute, 29.678 seconds. The win marked the first career individual gold-medal victory of Blais’ career.
WATCH | Blais captures short track World Tour 1,000m gold:
Danaé Blais captures short track World Tour 1,000m gold
The Châteauguay, Que. native clocked in at a time of 1:29.678 to win the women’s 1,000m final at the ISU short track World Tour stop in Beijing.
“Winning gold is an incredible feeling,” Blais said in a release after the event. “The level of competition is extremely elevated this season, so I didn’t really have the feeling that I was going to reach the top this early on.
It’s a tremendous feeling knowing that I have what it takes to become the best. I’m excited for the rest of the weekend and the rest of the season.”
Blais then helped the Canadian women’s relay team strike gold. She teamed with Kim Boutin (Sherbrooke, Que.), Florence Brunelle (Trois-Rivières, Que.), and Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.) to win the 3,000m relay final in 4:10.948.
WATCH | Canada claims gold in 3,000m relay:
Canada claims gold in 3,000m relay short track World Tour competition
After a restart to the race, Canada’s squad of Courtney Sarault, Danaé Blais, Florence Brunelle and Kim Boutin finished atop of the leaderboard with a time of 4:10.948 to win the gold medal in the women’s 3,000-metre relay at the ISU short track World Tour stop in Beijing.
With eight laps remaining, the race had to be restarted due to a bad fall by Chinese skater Wang Ye.
South Korea (4:17.746) took silver while Kazakhstan (4:39.492) finished with bronze. China and Poland were penalized in the race.
The win is the Canadian squad’s second consecutive victory in the event. With 260 points after three events, Canada has a slight edge over Italy (224) and Korea (220) in the World Tour rankings.
WATCH | Dubois earns silver in 500m short track World Tour race:
Steven Dubois earns silver in 500m short track World Tour race
The Olympian from Terrebonne, Que. finished with a time of 40.289 to win the silver medal in the men’s 500m event during the ISU short track World Tour stop in Beijing.
On the men’s side, Canadians Steven Dubois and William Dandjinou each picked up a silver medal win in Beijing.
Dubois, of Lachenaie, Que., finished second in the 500m final (40.289) while Montreal’s Dandjinou earned his medal in the 1,500m final (2:16.808).
WATCH | Dandjinou skates to silver in 1,500m event:
William Dandjinou skates to silver in short track World Tour 1,500m event
The Montreal native placed second with a time of 2:16.808 in the men’s 1,500-metre final at the ISU Short Track World Tour stop in Beijing.
