Canada’s short track team reached the podium four times on Sunday, winning both the men’s and mixed gender relays to close out the ISU Short Track World Tour in Montreal.
The Canadian squad concluded its two-week homestand with 14 medals, including nine gold and two silvers.
The medal haul started soon after the doors to the Maurice Richard Arena opened on Sunday as the 2,000-metre mixed relay squad of Steven Dubois (Lachenaie, Que.), Kim Boutin (Sherbrooke, Que.), Felix Roussel (Sherbrooke) and Florence Brunelle (Trois-Rivieres, Que.) captured gold in the first distance of the day.
The Canadians (2:37.684) were matched up against Netherlands (2:37.960) and Japan (2:40.162) in a three-team final, jockeying for position throughout much of the race. A well-executed relay by Boutin helped push Brunelle past her Dutch counterpart and into the lead. Roussel and Dubois kept the pace high during their final legs, fending off a hard pressing attack from their rivals to hold the lead and cross the line first.
WATCH: Dandjinou wins gold, Pierre-Gilles bronze in 1,000m:
WATCH: Canadian men’s relay team claim gold in 5,000m
WATCH: Canada captures short track mixed team relay gold:
It was a long-awaited first-place finish for the Canadians, who won gold for only the second time since the mixed relay was added to the international circuit six seasons ago. The country’s only other victory was at the World Cup in Almaty in December 2018, where Boutin, Samuel Girard, Alyson Charles and Cedrick Blais reached the top of the podium.
The day was bookmarked with another relay victory, as the men’s team of Dubois, Roussel, William Dandjinou (Montreal) and Jordan Pierre-Gilles (Sherbrooke) repeated as gold medallists in the 5,000-metre marathon with a time of 6:41.532.