Charles Hamelin strikes gold on another big day for Canadian short track team
4 medals added to tally on final day at test event for 2018 Olympics
Charles Hamelin won gold and the Canadian team added four medals to its tally on the final day of the World Cup stage in Gangneung, South Korea - a test event for the 2018 Olympics.
This follows a five-medal performance for Canadian competitors on Saturday.
Hamelin was joined on the podium for the second 1000-metre race of the weekend by teammate Charle Cournoyer, who came up with bronze. Silver went to Russia's Semen Elistratov.
"Today was a good day for me because until then, I had gone through some tough moments since the team had arrived in Asia," Hamelin said.
"I really wanted to give everything to find my way onto the podium, find some confidence and get some good vibes in this building before leaving – because the next time we will come here, it will probably be during the Olympics."
Cournoyer was also satisfied with his performance, especially after all the work he put in over the fall.
"I've worked on a lot of things recently during my races," Cournoyer said.
"This season, my goal is really to improve my decision making during races...So I'm happy to see that the work is paying off and that I ended up on the podium today."
The Canadian men's relay entry, which included Hamelin, Cournoyer, Samuel Girard, and Pascal Dion, finished second between Hungary and the U.S. for its first medal this season, while Canada also took bronze in the women's relay.
ALERTE 4🏅 ALERT <br>1 GOLD/OR: <a href="https://twitter.com/Speedskater01">@Speedskater01</a> <br>1 SILVER/ARGENT: H/M Relay<br>2 BRONZE: Charle Cournoyer / W/F Relay<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WCShortTrack?src=hash">#WCShortTrack</a> Gangneung, 🇰🇷 <a href="https://t.co/zJQ7JgcGUv">pic.twitter.com/zJQ7JgcGUv</a>
—@SSC_PVCThe nine medals is the country's highest total at a World Cup stage so far this season and its best performance since November 2015.
Overall in 2016-17, the Canadian squad has 23 podium finishes.
Despite a fall with eight laps remaining, Canada's bronze in women's relay amounted to a medal in three consecutive World Cup stages.
"Our strategy was really good, we were solid," said Marianne St-Gelais. "The fall changed the course of events, but I think we can still be proud of what we did. We put together a brand new relay and it was really solid."
St-Gelais was joined on the team by Valerie Maltais, Kasandra Bradette, and Kim Boutin.
South Korea won gold in that event and was followed by the Netherlands.