Dandjinou caps off breakout season with first career World Championship medal; women’s relay team reaches podium in bronze medal position

ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – William Dandjinou capped off his breakout international season with a World Championship title in the 1000m on Sunday, racing to the top of the podium at the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The women’s 3000m relay team also reached the podium, bringing home the bronze medal.

Dandjinou, who was battling for the lead throughout the 1000m final, secured the front of the pack after race leaders Park Ji Won and Hwang Daeheon from Korea collided with three laps remaining. The Canadian held off hard-charging Italian Pietro Sighel, edging him out in a photo-finish at the line. Dandjinou’s time of 1:25.534 was 0.021 seconds faster than Sighel’s (1:25.555), with Italy’s Luca Spechenhauser rounding out the podium in bronze medal position (1:26.026).

In addition to his World Championship title, the 22-year-old from Montreal was crowned Canadian Champion in the fall and captured six World Cup medals across five competitions, including 1500m victories in Montreal, Seoul and Dresden. He finished the season ranked third overall in the Crystal Globe standings, thanks in part to top-5 rankings in both the 1500m and 1000m.

Dandjinou was the lone Canadian to reach an A Final on Sunday. Steven Dubois (Lachenaie, Que.), Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.) and Kim Boutin (Sherbrooke, Que.) skated in the 1000m B Finals, finishing sixth, eighth and ninth overall in the distance, respectively.

The women’s relay team, the only squad to earn a spot in the A Final, overcame a chaotic race to earn a bronze medal.

The team of Kim Boutin (Sherbrooke, Que.), Rikki Doak (Fredericton, N.B.), Renée Steenge (Brampton, Ont.) and Danaé Blais (Châteauguay, Que.) missed an exchange during the 20th lap, as Steenge was forced to reach around Dutch and Korean skaters to push Blais, who was unable to get back onto the track. The Canadians (4:12.675) kept skating and managed to pass the Koreans, who had a fall of their own, to secure the final podium position, behind the Netherlands (4:07.788) and Americans (4:08.061).

This weekend’s performances caps off a successful international campaign for Canada, who in addition to their four World Championship medal (two gold, two bronze), also won an impressive 35 World Cup medals across six events, including 15 gold, 10 silver and 10 bronze. A total of nine skaters brough home individual distance medals, while the relay teams accounted for seven podiums, including four gold.

Quotes

“Honestly, I didn’t expect to have this result today. After the day I had yesterday – probably the worse day I could have imagined with bad results in the 500m, 1500m and relay – I’m just happy to be back. It’s not the first time I have a bad day. It’s my first World Championships so I had to adjust to the calibre of the races. I wanted to make sure I was locked in for this last day and do my best. No matter what the results were today, I wanted to be happy with myself, so it’s just a blessing that I finished as world champion! The other skaters are really talented, so I feel lucky and thankful for the result today. I want to thank my family for supporting me. I’m excited to share this with you all when I get back to Montreal.”

William Dandjinou

“There was a lot of action in the race, but we remained calm, and I thought we had good aggression. So many different things happened in the race that the officials decided to keep the result as is. I think we were ready to have a great race, but we are very happy with the bronze medal. A third place is consistent with our other performances this season.“

Kim Boutin

Results

1000m

William Dandjinou: 1st
Steven Dubois: 6th
Pasal Dion: 13th
Courtney Sarault: 8th
Kim Boutin: 9th
Danaé Blais: 12th

Relays

Women’s: 3rd
Mixed: 5th
Men’s: 12th