Steven Dubois, right, of Canada competes against Roberts Kruzbergs of Latvia during the quarterfinal of the men's 1,500-meter at the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2023 in Seoul, South Korea, on March 10, 2023.The Associated Press
Canada earned three bronze medals on the final day of the short track speed skating world championships on Sunday.
Steven Dubois claimed his second medal of the competition in the men’s 1,000 metres, while Courtney Sarault took a medal in both the women’s 1,000 and the women’s 3,000 relay race.
Dubois, who won silver in the 500 on Saturday, made it into the final after getting bumped off the track in the semi-final. The Lachenaie, Que., native (1:28.069) beat out South Korea’s Hong Kyung-Hwan (1:28.071) in a photo finish for the final spot on the podium.
South Korea’s Park Ji-won claimed gold (1:27.741) and Belgium’s Stijn Desmet grabbed silver (1:27.974).
“I thought the race was going to go a lot faster, so I waited in the back. I had my chance to move up, and I didn’t take it, so I knew I would have to wait until the last two laps. After that, it was just a matter of deciding how I wanted to move to the front,” Dubois said.
“I ended up stretching out at the last minute for the third position and I’m pretty happy about it. I’m happy about my day today. The 1,000 [metres] is kind of my dark beast. I’m never sure where I’m going to finish, so I’m super happy I did well.”
In the women’s event, Sarault (1:29.794) placed behind South Korea’s Choi Min-Jeong (1:29.679) and Xandra Velzeboer (1:29.361) of the Netherlands.
It was the Moncton, N.B., native’s fourth career medal on the worlds stage after winning three in 2021 to be crowned vice world champion.
“I raced a good race and was in the position that I wanted to be in, but I’m not connecting well with the ice here,” Sarault said. “I’m putting a lot of pressure and it was chipping a bit, so I just didn’t have the legs at the end.”
Sarault, along with Claudia Gagnon, Kim Boutin and Renée Steenge, later won Canada’s lone relay medal in the 3,000. The Canadians (4:09.372) finished behind South Korea (4:09.151) and the Netherlands (4:09.056).
The result wasn’t one that the Canadians were exactly pleased with.
“I think we all agree that we can do better, so for us it is kind of a disappointment,” Boutin said. “We had a great season and I feel we can be proud of what we accomplished. Today was not our day, but we feel it is coming.”
Canada finished the world championships with six total medals.