Pascal Dion helps Canada's men to short track relay gold, wins silver in 1,000m
Canadian women, mixed squad also capture relay silver in Debrecen, Hungary
Pascal Dion was back to his medal-winning ways in the 1,000-metre distance on Sunday and also contributed to a gold performance in men's relay before leaving Hungary.
The Montreal speed skater joined Jordan-Pierre Gilles, Charles Hamelin and Steve Dubois atop the medal podium in the 5,000 event after posting a time of six minutes 44.045 seconds to beat South Korea (6:44.892) and the host Hungarians (6:45.003).
With eight laps remaining, Hamelin made a beautiful late inside pass to move into first place before exchanging with Pierre-Gilles. The Canadians crossed the finish line with a comfortable lead.
"I've been on the national team for 20 years and I haven't been known to do that type of late pass very often," Hamelin told Speed Skating Canada. "I think this is the first time I've done it so well. That's what brought the team to the front and after that it was over for the other teams.
"We gained almost a quarter of a turn on them and then there were no further challenges until the end of the race."
WATCH | Canada's men top medal podium in 5,000-metre relay:
Pierre-Gilles was told Saturday night by coach Sébastien Cros he would finish Sunday's race, a different role from the previous World Cup event in Japan.
"It's a responsibility that is important and I was looking forward to doing it," Pierre-Gilles said. "I was confident … and it ended up working out.
Earlier, Dion stopped the clock in 1:25.698 for silver in a short track World Cup race in Debrecen.
The 27-year-old has reached the medal podium in each of his 1,000 races this season. He won bronze on Oct. 31 in Nagoya, Japan, one week after placing third in Beijing.
WATCH | Dion captures silver medal over 1,000 metres in Hungary:
Hwang Daeheon of South Korea was victorious in Sunday's competition in 1:25.425, with Dutch skater Itzhak de Laat rounding out the podium in 1:26.211.
Sarault penalized
Dion picked up his first World Cup medal in the men's 1,500 on Saturday, taking silver behind China's Ren Ziwei.
In women's action, Courtney Sarault of Moncton, N.B., was second to the finish line in the women's 1,000 but following video review was penalized and knocked out of medal contention for making contact during a pass.
Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands posted a winning time of 1:31.475, followed by South Korea's Choi Minjeon (1:31.789) and Poland's Natalia Maliszewska (1:31.950).
WATCH | Sarault takes bronze in Debrecen on Saturday:
Sarault later contributed to a silver medal performance in the women's relay.
The 21-year-old teamed with Alyson Charles, Florence Brunelle and Kim Boutin to post a time of 4:06.789 over 3,000 metres. The Netherlands won in 4:06.769 and China was third in 4:06.782.
"I'm really happy with my performances today," said Brunelle, who was second in the mixed relay final. "It made me realize what it was like to make the finals and go for medals. This is the first time that I experienced that.
"I was so excited and full of emotions, I managed to stay calm at times but at other times my heart was beating extremely fast. In the women's relay final, I was all set. I had already made two finals over the weekend, and I understood what it was. I felt ready to attack."
Camille de Serres-Rainville, Charles Hamelin, Steve Dubois and Brunelle placed second over 2,000 metres in 2:39.651 in mixed relay.
China prevailed in 2:39.386 and France was third in 2:40.417.
It was Canada's third medal in the discipline since it was introduced in the 2018-2019 season.
Canadians will have a last opportunity to secure Olympic quota spots and better position themselves to be nominated for the Beijing team at next week's final short track World Cup stop of the season in Dordrecht, Netherlands.
