Following his silver win in the men’s 500-meter event at the World Cup season finale in Gdansk, Poland, Steven Dubois, hailing from Terrebonne, Que., secured gold in the second 500m final the next day.
Dubois dominated the race, leading from start to finish and clocking in with a final time of 40.303 seconds. Denis Nikisha of Kazakhstan trailed behind, securing the silver medal.
Despite Félix Roussel of Sherbrooke, Que., initially appearing to take second place, he was disqualified for an arm push on Michal Niewinski of Poland, who took the bronze.
Montreal’s Maxime Laoun finished fifth in the men’s 1,000m final, won by Park Ji Won of South Korea. Park’s victory secured him the Crystal Globe with 1,071 points, just ahead of Dubois’s 1,052, making Park the overall champion for the second consecutive year. William Dandjinou of Montreal took third place with 784 points.
In another triumph for Canada, Dubois, along with Roussel, Pascal Dion, and Jordan Pierre-Gilles, clinched gold in the men’s 5,000m relay. The team held off strong challenges from South Korea and Japan, finishing with a time of 6:55.577.
Courtney Sarault from Moncton, N.B., placed fifth in the women’s 500m final, boosting her position into the top 10 in the women’s Crystal Globe standings, which was won by South Korea’s Kim Gilli. Sarault also competed in the women’s 3,000m relay alongside Kim Boutin, Rikki Doak, and Renee Marie Steenge. However, the team faced disqualification due to a lane change penalty, with the Netherlands claiming victory and South Korea and the United States securing silver and bronze, respectively.
