Speed skater Florence Brunelle captures her 1st individual World Tour title
Canadian speed skaters Florence Brunelle and Courtney Sarault won Short Track World Tour gold on Sunday in Tilburg, Netherlands.
Brunelle, from Trois-Rivieres, Que., finished first in the women's 500 metres for her first career individual World Tour title.
She crossed the line in 43.141 seconds, just ahead of Michelle Velzeboer (43.257) of the Netherlands and American Kristen Santos-Griswold (43.500).
A two-time world junior champion in the distance, Brunelle had won 500 silver in Beijing and Korea earlier this season, the first senior-level medals of her young career.
"I am extremely happy and proud. … I knew that gold was possible, but it's still important to make it happen," she told Speed Skating Canada. "I'm most happy about the way I achieved it.
"Lots of things have happened in the last month that could have destabalized me. But, in the end, I knew that what would be most beneficial for me was to stay in the moment."
WATCH | Brunelle adds to season medal haul in women's 500m:
Sarault, from Moncton, N.B., took top spot in the women's 1,500 final in two minutes 27.388 seconds.
Belgium's Hanne Desmet crossed the line first but missed out on gold after she was penalized for making contact with Arianna Fontana of Italy.
Brunelle captures women's 500m silver in Beijing
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Sarault grabbed the lead midway through the race but was overtaken by Desmet from the outside with two laps remaining.
The 24-year-old Canadian crossed the finish line in 2:27.388 and was joined on the podium by Italy's Elisa Confortola (2:27.406) and Corinne Stoddard of the United States (2:27.525).
It is Sarault's first individual distance medal of the season, having missed the two World Tour stops in Montreal due to a concussion and coming close with three A Final appearances during the competitions in China and Korea.
WATCH | Sarault awarded gold medal after Belgium opponent penalized:
"Yesterday, I fell a little bit short in the 1,000, so I knew that I only had two big efforts today and I was willing to really fight for it," Sarault said. "I think I did the perfect race to get myself in the right spot at the right time.
"After the year I've had, I owed it to myself to just skate, be in the moment, and give myself the best chance by letting go of everything that has happened in the past."
In the men's 1,000, reigning world champion William Dandjinou of Montreal was penalized and given a yellow card for the second day in a row after making a dangerous pass in the final that took out two fellow competitors. Felix Roussel (Sherbrooke, Que.) crashed out in that same race, settling for a fourth-place result.
The day ended in controversy for the men's relay squad of Steven Dubois, Jordan Pierre-Gilles, Maxime Laoun and Roussel, who were eliminated from medal contention after Dutch skater Jens van 'T Wout knocked Dubois down at the exit of the final corner.
The officials deemed there was joint responsibility and didn't hand out any penalties, resulting in a Dutch victory on home ice, ahead of Belgium and Italy.
Canada leaves Tilburg with five medals, including gold from Sarault, Brunelle, Dandjinou and Dubois, as well as silver from Jordan Pierre-Gilles.
After the first five World Tour events of the season, Canada sits atop the ISU Team Crystal Globe rankings with 7,422 points, comfortably ahead of their closest competitors, the Dutch Lions (5,771).
The final ISU Short Track World Tour stop is Feb. 14-16 in Milan, host of next winter's 2026 Olympic Games.
Other Canadian results
Women's 500m
Danaé Blais: 8th
Kim Boutin: 10th
Men's 1,000
Felix Roussel: 4th
Steven Dubois: 6th
Women's 1,500
Claudia Gagnon: 9th
Danaé Blais: 19th
Relay
Men's: 4th
Mixed: 5th
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