Steven Dubois leads Canada's 3-medal short track haul in the Netherlands
Steven Dubois made up for a disappointing Saturday in short track with an individual bronze medal and relay gold 24 hours later with Canada's men's speed skating team in Dordrecht, Netherlands.
The 22-year-old from Lachenaie, Que., posted a time of one minute 29.727 seconds to finish third in the men's 1,000-metre A final behind South Korea's Park Ji-won (1:29.402) and Kim Dong Wook (1:29.528).
"I got to the finals and didn't really have any objectives," Dubois told Speed Skating Canada. "I thought the Koreans might try to take the lead, so I wanted to be in a good position and maybe try to catch up to them eventually."
Dubois also joined Pascal Dion, Charles Hamelin and Jordan Pierre-Gilles to win the men's 5,000 relay in 6:54.542 over the Netherlands (6:54.573) and China (6:54.039), the Canadian team's first podium finish since the season opener at Salt Lake City.
Dubois fended off the hosts for the final two laps of the race and prevailed in a photo finish.
"We had to finish ranked eighth to secure our spot at the world championships," he said, "and we're currently in seventh. The guys worked very well together in the finals. They were the ones making the passes to try and put me in a good position."
On Saturday, Dubois was fifth in the men's 1,500 A final in 2:20.972.
WATCH | Steven Dubois crosses line 3rd in men's 1,000m A final:
He has had a spectacular season since capturing the overall men's title at the Canadian short track championships in Montreal back in September.
At the inaugural ISU Four Continents short-track championship in January, Dubois was second in the men's 1,500 at Montreal and second in the 500.
The next day, he jumped from last place to second with two laps to go to win a silver medal in the men's 1,000
A week ago, Dubois skated to the first individual gold medal of his career on the World Cup circuit when he clocked in at 40.530 — ahead of Hungary's Shaolin Sandor Liu (40.956) and Dutch skater Melle van'T — in the men's 500 at an ISU short track World Cup in Dresden, Germany.
WATCH | Canada narrowly defeats the Netherlands for relay gold:
Meanwhile, the Canadian team of Danae Blais, Alyson Charles, Claudia Gagnon and Courtney Sarault were second in the women's 3,000 relay in 4:10.740, picking up their fifth medal of the season. The Netherlands topped the field in 4:10.255 and South Korea placed third in 4:10.772.
WATCH | Canadian women skate to relay silver in 3,000 metres:
The same four skaters earned a silver medal at the Four Continents championships.
Kim Boutin of Sherbrooke, Que., withdrew from the event earlier in the week after winning a gold medal in the women's 500 in Dresden, her ninth medal in 10 individual events this season.
"Even without Kim, we were still united and wanted to fight it out for first place," Gagnon said. "The four of us have [skated] together for a long time so our chemistry was evident, both on and off the ice.
"We did it for [Kim] and I know she's super proud of us."
Other Canadian results:
Alyson Charles (Montreal) — 3rd in women's 500-metre B final, 8th overall (43.907 seconds).
Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.) — 2nd in women's 1,000 B final, 7th overall (1:34.849).
Jordan Pierre-Gilles (Sherbrooke, Que.) — 1st in men's 500 B final, 5th overall (41.453).
Charles Hamelin (Saint-Julie, Que.) — 7th in men's 1,000
Pascal Dion (Montreal) — 9th in men's 500
Cédrik Blais (Châteauguay, Que.) — 19th in men's 500
Rikki Doak (Fredericton) — 11th in women's 500
Danaé Blais (Chateauguay, Que.) — 26th in women's 1,000
Claudia Gagnon (La Baie, Que.) — 34th in women's 1,000
William Dandjinou (Verdun, Que.) — 38th in men's 1,000
The Canadian team finishes the season with 25 World Cup medals, its highest total since the 2016-17 campaign. Three members rank among the top 10 in individual distances:
Kim Boutin — 1st in 500 metres, 5th in 1,500 and 9th in 1,000
Steven Dubois — 5th in the 1,000, 9th in the 500 and 10th in the 1,500
Courtney Sarault — 6th in the 1,500 and 7th in the 1,000
Canada returns to the ice at worlds, March 13-15, in Seoul, South Korea. CBC Sports will be providing television and live streaming coverage.
