Charles Hamelin, Francois Hamelin earn short-track gold, bronze medals

Brothers Charles and Francois Hamelin shared the short-track podium Saturday, while fellow Canadian speed skater Marianne St-Gelais extended her streak of podium finishes to five at an ISU World Cup event in Nagoya, Japan.

Charles Hamelin stopped the clock in 41.016 seconds to win the men's 500-metre race ahead of South Korea's Kwak Yoon-Gy (41.017) and Francois Hamelin (41.899).

"I had a slight moment of panic at the end when the Korean skater came inside and I needed a photo finish to confirm the win," Charles Hamelin, who won the 500 in Toronto in early November, said in a statement released by Speed Skating Canada.

"You don't win a race by one-thousandth of a second every day, but I'll take it when it happens. When you consider I was in a final with my brother, I was happy about that."

Two podium finishes in five races this season ... that's probably my best stretch ever. It's quite encouraging.- Canadian speed skater Francois Hamelin

For Francois, Saturday's bronze medal was his second in as many World Cup events as the Sainte-Julie, Que., skater was third in the 1,500 in Toronto.

"Let's say I didn't come up with one of my best performances in the final," he said, "but it still ended up in a podium [finish]. I again proved to myself that I'm back among the top skaters in the world.

"Two podium finishes in five races this season … that's probably my best stretch ever. It's quite encouraging."

Prior to Saturday, the last time the brothers reached the podium in the same race was in the 1,000 at the second stage of the 2008-09 World Cup season in Vancouver.

St-Gelais 5-for-5

Saturday's 44.579-second performance in the 500 marked the fifth medal in five individual events this season for St-Gelais of Saint-Felicien, Que.

China's Fan Kexin (44.078) and Great Britain's Elise Christie (44.224) won gold and silver, respectively.

"It was a high-calibre final with Elise Christie," St-Gelais said, "and I knew it would be a fast race."

With two laps remaining, the Canadian overtook Polish skater Natalia Maliszewska, who forced St-Gelais to take a wide turn late in the race and causing her to drop back to fourth spot.

"The only thing I was thinking about at that point was to avoid falling," St-Gelais said. "It's very disappointing because I train to be able to go head-to-head with the top skaters and I wasn't able to do that in today's final."

Podium threat

In the women's, 1,500, Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Que., was fourth behind three South Korean skaters.

"I lacked a little speed towards the end, but I'm still happy with my race," she said.

Samuel Girard, the lone Canadian in the men's 1,500 A final, placed fifth.

Canada's men's and women's relay teams qualified second for Sunday's A finals.

Other Canadian results:

• Men's 500: Pascal Dion, 4th in quarter-finals, eliminated
• Women's 500: Kasandra Bradette: 2nd in B final; Audrey Phaneuf: 4th in B final
• Men's 1,500: Charle Cournoyer: 2nd in B final; Patrick Duffy: Penalty in B final
• Women's 1,500: Kim Boutin: 1st in B final; Namasthee Harris-Gauthier: 3rd in B final