Canadian short trackers show up in Milan as complete force less than one year from Olympics

CBC

13-02-2025

The standings would tell you that Canada's short track speed skating team has enjoyed a thoroughly successful World Tour season.
But head coach Marc Gagnon said one thing is still missing.
"I have to say that some moments have to be bad to get even better, but the reality is that we didn't get that many bad moments this year," Gagnon said.
It's champagne problems for the Canadians as they arrive at the final World Tour stop of the season in Milan at the same venue that will host competition at the 2026 Olympics. Live coverage from Italy is available on Saturday at 7 a.m. ET and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.
Canada has all but locked up the first-ever team Crystal Globe, which takes every race into account but weighs relays slightly heavier, while star William Dandjinou leads the men's standings.
Now, the Canadians will hit the Milano Duomo ice with targets on their backs, which should provide a solid test run for the Olympics.
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"Teams want to beat us right now. We're at the top pretty much everywhere. So we know that, but again, it's not our concern right now. It's to just stay focused on the process, to keep being there and to keep being good, no matter the target that we have," Gagnon said.
Part of the team's renewed success has come from a breakout year in the mixed relay event.
The four-person team of Kim Boutin, Florence Brunelle, Felix Roussel and Steven Dubois won bronze and gold in the first two events of the season in Montreal and has since added another bronze, too. The victory was just Canada's second since the discipline was introduced in December 2018.
"There was a lot of work understanding each other, who we are, and how we can work better together and make sure that we work positively and try to have comments that will bring us upwards and better instead of just not understanding what the hell the girls are doing or what the hell the guys are doing," Gagnon said.
Roussel, the 23-year-old from Sherbrooke, Que., is hoping to make his Olympic debut in Italy.
He missed out on qualification for Beijing four years ago and suffered an injury soon after that left him training with the women's team throughout the summer.
"I just really improved a lot during the summer and then I qualified to be on the team for the World Cups and that's what started basically my real international journey," Roussel said.
WATCH | Canada captures short track mixed team relay World Tour gold on home ice:
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That 2022 summer also represented the first step toward the mixed relay coming together.
"I built a connection with the girls because we spent all the time together. I was leading a lot of training. We were working hard together. So I think for the mixed relay, that's where the chemistry started," Roussel said. "And for me … I really discovered that there's another level to this and I can train much, much, much harder."
Gagnon, 49, is a three-time Olympic champion, five-time medallist and four-time overall World Cup champion. He rejoined Skate Canada's coaching staff in 2020 and was recently promoted to head coach.
Two of his Olympic gold medals came in the relay, in which he said the key to a success is fully understanding that it is a team event as opposed to four individual skaters.
"We have to know what each individual can do to help the team and make sure that the continuous speed stays there so we don't lose speed somewhere and we don't lose a position because somebody tried to do a superhero pass and that didn't work," Gagnon said. "So doing stuff that they know they're good at, and always making the choice of doing it, knowing that it's gonna help the team and not just their one lap and a half individually."
WATCH | Brunelle adds to season medal haul in women's 500m:
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He added that one of the team's strengths is its flexibility — even though they've mostly determined that Roussel is ideally used as the third skater, he'll race the anchor lap in Milan this weekend.
"A lot of chemistry, a lot of speed, a lot of confidence and trust between our teammates. You only skate a quarter of the time, [and] we're four in a team. So you got to trust your teammates when it's their job and when it's their time to do the job," Roussel said.
Beyond Roussel's summer training session with the women, he said the team has worked hard to establish that trust in each other. Everything from exchanges to motivations to pre-game rituals can look vastly different the in men's and women's relays, he said.
"It's been like a whole journey. But when we finally showed up in Montreal and had good performances, then we knew we did [something] right," Roussel said. "There's a lot of like handshakes going on, a lot of remembering what's your role.
"Just find a moment to feel the energy between us four and have some good eye contact and just telling each other that we're confident in each other and we believe in them."
The team is dripping confidence as it gets set to confirm its Crystal Globe and launch into the world championships in March and the Olympics in a little less than 12 months time.
And while Gagnon is concerned about the lack of adversity the team has faced, Roussel is happy to keep racking up the hardware.
"I don't think the team has felt as strong before. We feel like we're just dominating everything. Every time we touch the ice, it's gold, gold, gold. And if it's not gold and silver, sometimes we're making double podiums in individual distances," he said.