MONTREAL, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Canadian skaters maintained their impressive performance at the second leg of the ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Tour in Montreal, securing three gold medals across four events on Saturday.
China claimed a bronze in the women's 3,000m relay. However, the country's star skaters Liu Shaoang, Liu Shaolin and Lin Xiaojun did not advance to the men's 500m final. Liu Shaoang finished third in the quarterfinals, Lin withdrew from the competition, and Liu Shaolin placed fourth in the repechage semifinals.
Canada celebrated a 1-2 finish in the men's 500m, with Steven Dubois crossing the finish line in 41.124 seconds, just ahead of William Dandjinou at 41.183 seconds.
"I wanted to control the pace," said Dubois. "I rolled with another 39 (referring to a 39-second performance in the semifinal), so I'm super happy with that. I'm gaining confidence controlling the pace in front, which is a big step in the right direction. I heard William as second, so I pushed as hard as I could. Our training is rigorous, and it's making us faster."
Dandjinou, who also won the men's 1,500m the previous week, delivered a tactically astute performance to take gold in 2:17.138.
"I'm very happy because I think I executed a good tactical race," said Dandjinou. "Despite some lingering fatigue from last weekend, I had to be precise with my decision-making and tactics, and I managed to do that well, which led to this result."
In the women's 3,000m relay, Canada, Italy, China, and South Korea were in a tight race, with Canada's Kim Boutin securing the win on the final lap. Italy took silver, and China claimed bronze.
South Korea's veteran Choi Min-jeong dominated the women's 1,000m, winning gold with a time of 1:30.496.
The competition continues on Sunday at the Maurice Richard Arena, featuring a full schedule including the women's 500m, women's 1,500m, men's 1,000m, mixed team relay, and men's 5,000m relay. ■
