Kim Boutin wins short track bronze, helps Canada to relay gold
Kim Boutin added to her individual short track success Sunday while helping her Canadian speed skating teammates to an elusive gold medal on the final day of World Cup action in Shanghai.
The native of Sherbrooke, Que., picked up her first bronze of the 2019-20 campaign in the 1,000 metres to give Boutin a medal in all eight of her individual distances this season.
"I lost a lot of energy making my outside pass at the start of the race," said Boutin, ranked No. 1 in the world in the 500, fourth in the 1,000 and fifth in the 1,500. "I really prevented the Chinese skaters from passing me."
Boutin crossed the line in one minute 29.218 seconds behind Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands (1:29.089) and Whi Min Seo of South Korea (1:29.114).
WATCH | Kim Boutin earns 1st medal of season in 1,000 metres:
The 24-year-old Boutin won her fourth career gold in the 500 on Saturday.
Also Sunday, she was part of the first Canadian women's team since the 2014-15 season to win relay gold after it posted three bronze performances earlier this season.
Alyson Charles, Courtney Sarault, Danae Blais and Boutin led for much of the race and stopped the clock in 4:09.460 to defeat the Netherlands (4:09.810). The United States (4:13.280) was upgraded to bronze from fourth following the disqualification of South Korea.
"I keep saying that each race we are getting better and better," Boutin said. "This one was an incredible race; we were solid, and we wanted to win it."
WATCH | Canada's women win elusive relay gold medal:
Dubois earns bronze in men's 500m
Added Charles: "We had one objective: To give it our all on the ice. Last week in Japan, we won bronze and I think each of us was able to really surpass [that effort] and [collect] the points we needed to in order to bring home the gold this weekend."
Elsewhere, Steven Dubois of Lachenaie, Que., redeemed himself with a bronze performance — the first medal of his career in the men's 500 — following Saturday's fourth-place showing in the 1,500. His time of 41.289 seconds placed the 22-year-old behind Hungary's Shaolin Sandor Liu (40.722) and June Seo Lee of South Korea (40.904).
WATCH | Steven Dubois tops field in men's 500 metres:
Dubois relinquished the lead on the third lap but returned to podium position when a Kazakhstan skater fell coming out of the final turn.
"I lost my footing and fell back a couple of positions," said Dubois, noting he raced particularly well in the quarter-finals an semifinals. "In [recent] World Cups, I've qualified for five of six A-finals, so overall I'm pretty happy with my results."
Other Canadian results:
Alyson Charles — gold in women's 1,000 metres (1:44.272), B Division
Courney Sarault — 10th in 500
The Canadian team will break for the holiday season and return at the Jan. 10-12 ISU Four Continents Short Track Championships in Montreal.
The final two World Cups are scheduled for Dresden, Germany (Feb. 7-9) and Dordrecht, Netherlands (Feb. 13-16).
