Canada defends men’s relay title and captures silver in the 2000m Mixed Relay to finish the weekend with three medals
MONTREAL, QUEBEC – The Canadian men’s 5000m relay team successfully defended their ISU World Short Track Championship title on Sunday, a thrilling victory that sent the capacity crowd at the Maurice Richard Arena in Montreal home quite happy.
The foursome of William Dandjinou (Montreal, Que.), Steven Dubois (Lachenaie, Que.), Felix Roussel (Sherbrooke, Que.) and Maxime Laoun (Montreal, Que.) won the final race of the short track season in exciting fashion to become back-to-back champions in the grueling distance.
Canada was in the lead when Laoun took the final exchange, and he did everything in his power to hold off the hard-charging Koreans. Youngster Rim Jongun made one final move at the finish line that caused Laoun to crash into the board. After the dust settle and the photo-finish was displayed on the video screen, it appeared Korea would be crowned the champions, however the celebration was short lived as they were penalized soon after for an arm block at the finish line.
The referee’s decision pushed Canada into gold medal position, resulting in thunderous cheers from the nearly 5,000 fans in attendance. The Canadians (6:56.578) were joined on the podium by China (6:58.309) and Italy (7:36.693), who benefited from the Korean’s disqualification to win bronze despite falling in the race.
Credit: Antoine Saito, Speed Skating Canada
The relay result was redemption of sorts for reigning Crystal Globe winner Dandjinou, who was on the opposite end of an identical penalty call earlier in the day in the men’s 1000m final, against none other than his new rival Jongun. The 24-year-old Canadian crossed the finish line first but lost the gold medal after his last-ditch stretch move was determined to have impeded the Korean, who was elevated to the top spot on the podium as a result.
The Canadians kicked off the second day of competition with a silver medal in the 2000m mixed relay, courtesy of Dandjinou, Dubois, Florence Brunelle (Trois-Rivières, Que.) and Danaé Blais (Châteauguay, Que.). The quartet were in the lead going into the final lap, but Dubois exited a corner too wide, which allowed Pietro Sighel to steal the victory for the Italians (2:39.275). Canada (2:39.405) finished the distance ranked second and the Belgians (2:40.184) rounded out the podium in third, the exact same podium as one month ago at Milano-Cortina 2026.
Roussel and teammate Courtney Sarault (Moncton, N.B.) can also add the World Championship medal to their resume, having participated in one of the earlier rounds.
Canada had a pair of skaters in the 1500m final but neither Sarault nor Blais were able to crack the top three positions. Sarault finished fourth behind Korea’s Kim Gilli (2:31.003), Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands (2:31.298) and Corinne Stoddard of the United States (2:31.386), while teammate Blais was penalized and finished seventh.
Kim Boutin (Sherbrooke, Que.), who was skating in the last competition of her illustrious career, took part in the Final B of the women’s 500m. Despite crossing the line fifth, the 31-year-old received a standing ovation from her fans for one last time.
Credit: Antoine Saito, Speed Skating Canada
The Canadian short track team finishes the 2025-26 season with five Olympic medals, three World Championship medals and reached the World Tour podium an impressive 31 times (15 gold, 7 silver, 9 bronze) across four events, helping them claim the men’s, women’s and team Crystal Globes.
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