Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help

Marianne St-Gelais, Charles Hamelin lead Canada at speed skating World Cup

Marianne St-Gelais and Charles Hamelin led the Canadian short-track speed skating team through qualifying rounds Friday in Shanghai, China. Canada qualified for 23 of 26 potential final rounds over the weekend.

Canadians qualify for 23 of 26 spots in final rounds

CBC Sports ·
Marianne St-Gelais from Canada qualified first in the 1,500 and 500 metres on Friday at a World Cup short-track speed skating event in Shanghai, China . The three-time Olympic medallist will race semifinals and quarter-finals Saturday and Sunday, respectively. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)

Marianne St-Gelais and Charles Hamelin led the Canadian short-track speed skating team through preliminary rounds Friday in Shanghai, China as the team qualified for 23 of 26 potential final rounds over the weekend.

St-Gelais, a three-time Olympic medallist from St-Felicien, Que., qualified first in the 1,500 and 500 metres. She will race semifinals and quarter-finals Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

"Obviously, my goal is to win a medal in each race as we head towards the world championships, but at the same time I don't want to focus too much on the streak," the 25-year-old said about having won medals in all six of her appearances in this year's World Cup events. "I mostly want to pay attention to what I need to do to skate well out there on the ice. By the same token, the streak remains a good challenge to have when you skate at a high level."

Hamelin, a four-time Olympic medallist from Sainte-Julie, Que., qualified first in both 1,500 events.

"I never felt I was in trouble, even if I knew I had to stay alert to avoid falling into traps, so the day went well," said the 31-year-old about his qualifying races. He will race semifinals on Saturday and Sunday.

Hamelin has won three gold medals at World Cup events this season.

St-Gelais and Hamelin were also members of relay teams which qualified for Saturday's semifinals.

Other Canadian results:

Women's 1,000m

  • Valérie Maltais
  • Audrey Phaneuf

Women's 1,500

  • Namasthée Harris-Gauthier
  • Kasandra Bradette

Men's 1,000

  • Patrick Duffy
  • Samuel Girard
  • Charle Cournoyer

1,500 heats

  • ​François Hamelin

500 final

  • Kasandra Bradette
  • Audrey Phaneuf

Women's 1,500

  • Namasthée Harris-Gauthier
  • Kim Boutin
  • Valérie Maltais

Men's 500

  • Samuel Girard
  • Charle Cournoyer

Men's 1,500

  • Patrick Duffy
  • Pascal Dion

Men's relay

  • Canada (Charles Hamelin, Samuel Girard, Patrick Duffy, Charle Cournoyer)

Women's relay

  • Canada (Marianne St-Gelais, Audrey Phaneuf, Kim Boutin, Namasthée Harris-Gauthier)

With files from Speed Skating Canada

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC Sports
Corrections and clarifications|

Related Stories