- They say you don’t change a winning formula. Canada followed that adage with one exception Friday at Maurice Richard Arena during the second stop of the World Short Track Speed Skating Tour.
- With an excellent haul of six medals last week, the Maple Leaf kept the same skaters for all distances, except for the women’s 1500 metres, for which Florence Brunelle replaced rookie Qi Miao.
- Unlike last week, however, two Canadians stumbled in qualifying. Jordan Pierre-Gilles lost his balance on the final turn of his 500m heat while leading, while Qi finished fourth in his 1,000m heat.
- For Pierre-Gilles, this fall means that he will have to go through the repechage on Saturday morning. If he manages to qualify for the semi-finals, he will have to change his approach, since his starting position will force him to overtake to reach the final.
- All with new boots that required several adjustments to the blades in order to find the perfect configuration.
- “It’s part of the sport,” said Pierre-Gilles, smiling. “I had some technical difficulties this week and we made adjustments, so I feel better. But I still need a few laps to adjust to the new configuration.
- “It’s good that it happens sometimes, to put you back on the peg a little bit, as they say. But I was definitely disappointed, because I was hoping not to have to get up [Saturday] morning for the repechage.”
- All other Canadian skaters qualified for the weekend rounds. Collectively, they also earned their tickets to the semifinals of all three relays, with rookie Philippe Daudelin making a contribution in the men’s event.
- Canada could still count on two fewer skaters than last week to defend its provisional first place in the new team crystal globe standings, a position the team hopes to hold on to. Canada has so far collected 1,434 points, 110 more than South Korea.
- William Dandjinou started the season strong last week with his victories in the 500 and 1500 m which allowed him to take first place in the individual crystal globe. Steven Dubois won silver and bronze medals in these same distances, then the men’s (gold) and mixed (bronze) relays also finished in the top-3.
- “We are super strong. We have the right mindset, we do it well, we are first,” commented Brunelle. “That’s where we have to be and that’s where we will be at the end of the year. We will continue to work like that.”
- Canada will once again be represented by Dandjinou and Dubois in the quarter finals of the 500m. Kim Boutin, Rikki Doak and Brunelle will also be there in the women’s race.
- Dandjinou and Félix Roussel had to work hard to reach the semi-finals of the 1500m as they took part in the same quarter-final heat. However, both men managed the double to continue their journey.
- Dandjinou and Roussel will also participate in the quarterfinals of the 1000m with Pierre-Gilles, while Dubois will be in the 1500m. In the women’s race, Danaé Blais qualified in the 1000m and 1500m. Boutin will accompany her in the 1500m and Brunelle in the 1000m.
- Brunelle is taking part in all three individual distances this week. The Canadian champion indicated that this was a decision taken jointly with head coach Marc Gagnon in order to assess the possibilities for the next two stages of the Circuit, which will take place in Asia.
- “We made adjustments – I didn’t do the mixed relay [Friday],” Brunelle explained. “In the long term, it’s my goal to perform in all three distances, hence the importance of seeing how I look in the 1,500m in this first block of the Tour.”
- “The first weekend, I went into the competition much fresher, the fatigue wasn’t really there, whereas now, I’m doing the three distances. So for energy management, recovery and mental preparation, my approach is a little different. But I’m ready.”
- The men’s 500m and 1500m finals, as well as the women’s 1000m, will take place on Saturday. The other finals will take place on Sunday.
- Canada could be without Qi, who will be evaluated for a possible concussion.
- “We’ll wait another day to see how it goes, but we seem to have lost ‘Qiqi,'” Gagnon lamented. “We don’t want to take any chances with the health [of the skaters].”
- The next stop of the World Tour will take place on December 6, 7 and 8 in Beijing, China.
Leave a Reply