World Cup short track speed skating: Samuel Girard leads Canada to 4 medals in Toronto

Nineteen-year-old Samuel Girard found himself involved in a one-two Canadian finish for the second week in a row as he won the first of two men's 500-metre events at the ISU World Cup short track speed skating event in Toronto on Saturday.

One week after finishing behind Charles Hamelin in the 1000m at the Montreal World Cup, Girard was the first skater to cross the finish line in Saturday's 500m race at the MasterCard Centre, earning him the gold medal ahead of teammate Sasha Fathoullin.

"It's pretty cool to see Canada go one-two last week and again today," said Girard.

"We feel like Canada deserves to be right there with the top countries, and it's great to be able to show it. And it was great to do it in Canada, in front of a crowd that was cheering us on."

Fathoullin believes their hard work has paid off. 

"I felt I could have caught up with [Girard], but I was mostly focusing on the skater behind me and on finishing on the podium, and also on doing my best until the finish line," said Fathoullin.

"I'm quite happy with second place. If we were able to go 1-2 all the way through the race, it's because of all the work we did in practice."

Girard, now in his second season at the World Cup level, earned his first career medal, a silver, on the circuit last week in Montreal.

Fathoullin, who at 20 years old is making his World Cup debut this season, won his first career international medal at the senior level.

The two young skaters helped Canada collect four medals in all on the first day of finals in Toronto, which is hosting a World Cup event for the first time.

Marianne St-Gelais and François Hamelin both picked up bronze medals in the women's and men's 1500m, respectively.

St-Gelais raised her total to three medals this season, after earning gold in the 500m and silver in the 1000m at the first World Cup stage.

"Not every skater at this level can be on the podium in all distances, so I'm really proud of that," said St-Gelais.

"I worked really hard on that this summer, and I knew it would pay off. I felt really great out there on the ice, it was a really good day for me."

François Hamelin collected Saturday his second individual medal in two World Cups, after a stretch of over three seasons without one. 

Charles Hamelin penalized

Charles Hamelin also took part in the 500m event, but his day ended in the quarter-finals as he was penalized for a contact involving China's Wu Dajing.

St-Gelais earned bronze, behind South Korea's Choi Minjeong and Shim Suk Hee, and just ahead of Canadian teammate Valérie Maltais.

"There was a lot of action in that race, but I stayed well-positioned all the way through, and made sure I would be right there at the end," said Maltais. ​