Canada’s Félix Roussel and Maxime Laoun delivered a wild one-two finish on home ice in the men’s 500-metre final at the ISU Short Track World Tour stop in Montreal on Saturday, with Roussel taking gold after the top two Dutch skaters collided on the final turn.
Roussel, from Sherbrooke, Que., won in 40.380 seconds, just over a tenth of a second ahead of Montreal’s Laoun, who claimed his second straight 500m silver of the World Tour season after last weekend’s opener in Vancouver.
Roussel led until the Netherlands’ Teun Boer passed him on the inside, and Dutch star Jens van ‘t Wout soon did the same to move from third to second behind his teammate. Van ‘t Wout made a late attempt to pass Boer that sent both skaters down at Maurice Richard Arena.
Italy’s Thomas Nadalini took the bronze in 40.702, while Boer finished fourth in 1:11.579. Van ‘t Wout was penalized for failing to give way.
Canada’s Roussel and Laoun finish 1,2 in 500-metre short track World Tour stop in Montreal
Reigning Olympic 500m champion Steven Dubois of Lachenaie, Que., finished second in the B final, ahead of Mathieu Pelletier of Laval, Que.
Two-time reigning men’s overall Crystal Globe champion William Dandjinou opted to sit out both Canadian stops after a disappointing Olympics and is expected to return to the World Tour for the third stop in Seoul on Nov. 20-22.
Roussel later added silver in the men’s 1,500m, finishing 0.111 seconds behind Van ‘t Wout, who rebounded from his 500m crash to win in 2:20.184 for his fourth individual gold of the World Tour season and second straight in the distance. Roussel clocked 2:20.295, while Japan’s Shogo Miyata earned bronze in 2:20.418.
“I’m pretty happy. None of my races were perfect but my results are encouraging,” Roussel said in a Speed Skating Canada release. “I’m still in learning mode but am still able to have good results, so I’m satisfied. It gives me good information for the future.”
Félix Roussel adds 1500-metre silver medal at World Tour stop in Montreal
Courtney Sarault of Moncton, N.B., nearly added a second gold for Canada in the women’s 1,000m, finishing in 1:30.336, 0.063 seconds behind South Korea’s Choi Min-jeong, who won the distance for the second straight weekend in 1:30.273.
The silver gives Sarault her third individual medal and fourth overall of the World Tour season. She led Canada in Vancouver with gold in the 1,500m and 3,000m relay and silver in the 500m.
Belgium’s Hanne Desmet finished third in 1:30.393, while Florence Brunelle of Trois-Rivières, Que., and Danaé Blais of Châteauguay, Que., were fourth and fifth in 1:30.574 and 1:30.949, respectively.
“Winning is what I’m here to try to do. I think it was a little bit bittersweet [of a resullt], but regardless, I’m proud of how I raced and of all my races leading up,” Sarault said. “I did some tactical things that were wrong in that final, and that cost me a little bit of legs.
“I’m going to learn from it and go from there but walking away with a silver with maybe not my best race, I’ll take it.”
Canada’s Sarault adds another short track World Tour silver medal to her collection
Sarault, Brunelle, Blais and teammate Claudia Gagnon were unable to repeat their gold-medal finish from Vancouver in the women’s 3,000m relay, missing the podium after being disqualified.
Brunelle was second behind Italy after the final exchange and lunged for the line in a near photo finish, but she was penalized for kicking out her skate.
Italy, which was penalized for a causing a crash in the Vancouver final, won gold in 4:12.931, with South Korea finishing 0.014 seconds back for silver. The Netherlands earned bronze in 4:23.933.
The race once again featured the same four teams as the 2026 Olympic final, which South Korea won ahead of Italy.
Watch live coverage of the Montreal World Tour stop on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. The full streaming schedule is available here.
ISU Short Track World Tour Montreal: Day 1
