William Dandjinou flew from Olympic heartbreak to become world's best short track speed skater

NBC Sports

2 days ago

Inside Montreal's Maurice Richard Arena, home to the world's dominant short track speed skating team, a not unreasonable target is written on a locker room board.
Five Olympic golds.
'So there's five medal opportunities,' at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, reasoned William Dandjinou. 'I want to be able to seize those opportunities as best as I can, I guess.'
In a three-year span, Dandjinou went from the sixth-best male short track speed skater in Canada — missing the five-man 2022 Olympic team by one spot — to the best in the world last season.
Canada won all four men's events at this past March's World Championships, plus gold in the mixed-gender relay.
The goal for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics: own the podium again.
'It (the board) is in my locker room where all my teammates can see, and I guess they have the same objectives as well,' Dandjinou said. 'So we'll work together to get there, and we'll see what happens.'
Dandjinou, tall for a short tracker at 6 feet, 3 inches (and nearly seven feet on skates), is the son of microbiologists who volunteer at his competitions: dad Alain, who immigrated to Quebec from Ivory Coast (coincidentally an icemaker while at university), and mom Mirabelle, born and raised in Quebec City.
Dandjinou was on the ice at age 2, said he was inspired by watching American Shani Davis win long track gold on TV at age 4 and began speed skating himself at age 6 in Montreal's Saint-Michel neighborhood.
By 15, he had already risen above the competition. He caught the eyes of coach Marc Gagnon, a three-time Olympic gold medalist.
'The first time we were seeing him, we were like, yeah, we know that guy can go really far,' Gagnon said. 'We could see right away his potential.'
Dandjinou made Canada's team for the World Junior Championships at 17. He began competing on the senior World Cup circuit at 18.
At 20, he was in contention to make the 2022 Olympic team. He could have been the youngest Canadian Olympic male short tracker since Gagnon at the 1994 Lillehammer Games.
Dandjinou's results in limited international opportunities in fall 2021 weren't enough to break into the more experienced five-man team for the Beijing Games.
A coach had to deliver the news to him. In past Games, the alternate traveled to the Olympics just in case, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other reasons, that didn't happen in 2022.
Gagnon recalled 'how low (Dandjinou) was, how disappointed, how unhappy, how much he wanted to quit skating.'
Determined, Dandjinou took solace in his youth, his work ethic and the potential that could be unlocked over the next four years.
But then came a more heartbreaking setback later that year. Dandjinou was seventh overall in trials for the 2022-23 World Cup season.
'I worked harder than ever during that offseason because I knew I wanted to be part of that team,' he said. 'And then qualifiers arrive, and I get a lower ranking than before.'
Dandjinou then took three weeks off from short track. It wasn't substantial enough to say he quit the sport, but he did spend about two weeks testing out long track speed skating
'I had to think through what was going to happen with my career and where I wanted to go,' he said. 'Going through long track was something I've always wanted to try, and I'm still open to trying, eventually, on a more serious level. It was more about experimenting and gaining perspective on my sport.'
Later in fall 2022, Dandjinou got a call. Another Canadian skater was injured. Dandjinou was promoted to the World Cup team. In his first event back, he made his first career A final on the circuit, placing fourth in a 1500m in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
It took another year for Dandjinou to take the next step.
It was October 2023 at an early season World Cup in Maurice Richard Arena. Upon reaching the semifinals of one race, Dandjinou allowed himself to dream. What celebration would I do if make the podium at home?
Dandjinou, sparked by eight-time Olympic medalist Apolo Ohno's expressiveness on the ice, trialed some ideas with his roommates. He anchored Canada to a relay victory and broke out Stephen Curry's 'Night, Night.'
They eventually settled on a move Dandjinou calls 'spreading my wings.'
Dandjinou won a 1500m in Montreal over the 2022 Olympic gold medalist in the event, Hwang Dae-Heon of South Korea, and started flapping before crossing the finish line.
'I wanted something that was unique, and I felt like the wings also was pretty representative, because I always performed well on the national level, right? But internationally was always pretty hard for me, especially on the senior level,' he said. 'So it was like a bird flying away from the nest, I guess. It felt good. And when I did it, I think the crowd felt my emotions as well.'
BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 16: William Dandjinou of Canada pose with their medals after competing in the Men's 1000m Finals during the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships on March 16, 2025 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang - International Skating Union/International Skating Union via Getty Images)
(International Skating Union via Getty Images)
Dandjinou won twice more on the World Cup in the 2023-24 season, plus took the 1000m at the March 2024 World Championships. He spread his wings after each victory.
In the 2024-25 season, Dandjinou won eight of the 18 individual races and earned the crystal globe trophy as the world's top-ranked skater overall. The trophy rests at Maurice Richard Arena, another tangible piece of motivation for the entire Canadian team.
Then at this past March's worlds, Dandjinou added three gold medals (1500m, men's relay, mixed relay) and one silver. Teammate Steven Dubois won the 500m and 1000m to give Canada a sweep of the men's events.
Dandjinou's height can alter races both ways. It makes it difficult for others to pass him, but also tougher for him to weave through the field. He doesn't accelerate as quickly as shorter skaters, but once he's up to speed, it's easier for him to maintain the momentum.
'You can really feel that it gets hard for opponents sometimes to understand what I'm doing,' he said, 'because I'm doing my own thing.'
Dandjinou now has his own logo as part of his own apparel collection.
Back in February 2022, he felt pride, and some relief, as Canada won the Olympic men's relay without him.
Now, they will be counting on him. Perhaps to anchor a relay, and to deliver a fitting celebration in Milan.
'If they wouldn't have won (in 2022), then it would have been more heartbreaking to me, because I would have felt like maybe I could have done something to get them over the edge,' he said. 'Maybe I was just not ready. It helped me go over that and try to work harder to be there the next (time).'
Nick Zaccardi,