Steven Dubois captured Canada’s first short track World Cup medal of the season with silver in the men’s 1,000 meters on Saturday in Montreal.
The 26-year-old Olympian from Terrebonne, Que., clocked a time of one minute 24.916 seconds to finish behind South Korea’s Ji Won Park, who captured gold at the World Cup opener in 1:24.903.
Italy’s Pietro Sighel rounded out the podium with a time of 1:25.035.
After concluding third in his qualifying heat on Friday, Dubois earned redemption by winning both of his repechage heats on Saturday en route to qualifying for the final in front of the home crowd.
“It was a day that was a bit hard mentally, and physically too,” Dubois said in a release. “Plus, it’s the first competition of the season. You never know how your legs are compared to other skaters, but after doing six or seven races, I saw that my conditioning was excellent.
“I didn’t feel a drop in physical form, so that gives me confidence for the next competitions. Plus, I didn’t do the repechange for nothing — I was able to leave with a medal!”
A pair of Canadian relay teams advanced to their respective finals on Saturday after winning their semifinal heats.
The Canadian women’s 3,000m relay quartet of Danae Blais, Florence Brunelle, Courtney Sarault and Renee Steenge advanced with a time of 4:09.956. They will face the Netherlands, United States and South Korea on Sunday.
Sarault, a Moncton, N.B. native, was crowned Canada’s women’s short track champion earlier this month.
“A lot of good skaters are here, a lot of strength,” Sarault said. “I’m just fighting for my spot right now and getting my feelings back. Hopefully, later on this year I can start pushing against the best again.”
Dubois helped Canada reach the men’s 5,000m relay final along with William Dandjinou, Jordan Pierre-Gilles and Pascal Dion.
The Canadian men secured their spot with a time of 6:47.719, setting up a showdown on Sunday with South Korea, China and Japan.
