Marianne St-Gelais adds to her medal tally in World Cup short track

Marianne St-Gelais of Saint-Félicien, Que., collected her second bronze medal of the weekend — this time in the women's 1000-metre — and helped Canada finish second in the women's relay on Sunday to close out the ISU World Cup short track speed skating event in Shanghai, China.

St-Gelais also skated to bronze on Saturday in the first 500m distance, reaching her goal of earning two podium finishes in China.

The two bronze medals increase her total for the season to five individual medals in three World Cup stages.

In the 1000m, St-Gelais and Valérie Maltais of Saguenay, La Baie borough, Que., were first and second with two laps to go until South Korean skaters Min Jeong Choi and Ji Yoo Kim overtook them on the outside. Choi and Kim ended up winning gold and silver, respectively, while Maltais was fourth.

"I'm a little disappointed by what happened," St-Gelais said. "I wanted to block the South Koreans at the end because I knew they were going to try to go by us on the outside. I didn't have enough energy left, I think."

It was the first time this season Maltais qualified for the A final of an individual event.

"I'm happy about making it to my first A final this season," Maltais said. "I felt good out there today. In the final, I was aware of everything that was going on. I lacked a bit of top speed at the end; I wasn't able to gain more speed. Still, I'll take away some positives from this final."

St-Gelais and Maltais, along with Kasandra Bradette and Kim Boutin, then delivered a silver medal for Canada in the women's relay. 

South Korea earned gold and silver went to the Netherlands.

"We had a very good race," said St-Gelais. "We applied everything we've talked about in the past. It gave us a great second-place finish and we're very happy about that."

Men's team held off the podium

The Canadian men's team had set a goal of six medals for Shanghai, however they were held off the podium all weekend. 

Furthermore, no Canadian male skater was able to qualify for a spot in the A final of Sunday's events.

"The weekend didn't go like we would have wanted," said Samuel Girard of Ferland-et-Boilleau, Que. 

"It's kind of the slap in the face that tells me that over a season, there are going to be some good ones and some that aren't as good"

The Canadian team will now head to Gangneung, South Korea, for the fourth stage of the ISU World Cup season to be held on the ice rink that will host the Olympics short track events at the 2018 Games.