Canada's Roussel wins 1,000-metre gold at World Tour short-track speedskating event

BEIJING — Félix Roussel win gold in the men's 1,000 metres as Canada picked up three medals Sunday to conclude a short-track speedskating World Tour stop in Beijing.

Roussel from Sherbrooke, Que., finished in one minute 25.352 seconds to earn his first individual distance medal of the season and his second career World Tour victory.

Poland’s Michal Niewinski (1:25.480) and Britain’s Niall Treacy (1:25.598) joined Roussel on the podium.

A crash with four laps to go involving leaders William Dandjinou of Montreal and South Korea’s Park Ji opened up the race.

“I am proud of the way I skated," Roussel said. "I showed that I had the legs and reacted well to the things that happened during my races. Crossing the finish line was an incredible moment. I never dreamed of being back on the podium this quickly.”

Also Sunday, Florence Brunelle of Trois-Rivières, Que., earned her first career individual distance medal on the tour with a silver in the women's 500 metres, while teammate Rikki Doak of Fredericton took bronze.

Brunelle (42.202 seconds) and Doak (42.696) finished behind Dutch speedster Xandra Velzeboer (42.078), who won her third 500-metre gold in as many weeks.

Kim Boutin of Sherbrooke, Que., finished just off the podium in fourth place (42.812).

"Today, I was able to remain concentrated and filter out the things that didn’t go super well yesterday from my mind," Brunelle said. "It’s something that I feel I did well and I’m quite proud of that."

The Canadian men’s relay team failed to win a medal Sunday after opening the season with back-to-back golds.

Roussel, Dandjinou, Steven Dubois (Lachenaie, Que.) and Jordan Pierre-Gilles (Sherbrooke, Que.) were in the hunt for the podium before Dandjinou fell with nine laps remaining.

China took gold, followed by South Korea and the Netherlands.

Canada finished the World Tour stop with seven medals and sits atop the team Crystal Globe standings with 4,640 points, followed by South Korea (3,990) and the Netherlands (3,149).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press