Canadian short track speed skater Will Dandjinou delivered a dominant performance on Saturday in Gdansk, Poland, capturing two gold medals to lead a four-medal day for Canada at the World Tour event.
The 24-year-old Montreal native won both the men’s 1,500-metre and 500-metre finals at the Hala Olivia Arena. His victories were complemented by teammates Courtney Sarault and Steven Dubois, who claimed silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Dandjinou Conquers “Challenging” Conditions
Dandjinou began his golden sweep in the men’s 1,500m final. He crossed the finish line in 2 minutes, 24.153 seconds, edging out Italians Thomas Nadalini and Pietro Sighel.
Reflecting on the race, Dandjinou noted the difficulty of the surface:
“It feels great… With this ice, it’s super challenging, so being able to perform with different types of conditions and ice is always good.”
Teammate Steven Dubois (Terrebonne, Que.) also competed in the 1,500m final, finishing sixth with a time of 2:24.834.
Sprinting to Victory
The difficult ice conditions did not hamper Dandjinou in the shorter distance. In the men’s 500m final, he secured his second gold of the day with a time of 40.849 seconds.
He was joined on the podium by Dubois, who bounced back from the earlier race to claim bronze (41.505). China’s Xiaojun Lin took the silver.
“It’s special for sure, especially with Steven [on the podium],” Dandjinou said regarding the 500m result. “We showed great team chemistry and we always want to get three guys on the podium.”
Season Dominance
These victories mark Dandjinou’s fourth and fifth gold medals of the season. The defending overall champion has firmly established himself as the skater to beat, amassing 642 points this season.
He currently holds a massive 210-point lead over his closest competitor, Pietro Sighel. Steven Dubois sits in third place, just 10 points behind the Italian.
Sarault Secures Silver for Women’s Team
On the women’s side, Moncton’s Courtney Sarault continued her strong season by winning silver in the 1,000m final.
Sarault finished with a time of 1:30.575, sandwiched between gold medalist Hanna Desmet of Belgium (1:30.422) and bronze medalist Corrine Stoddard of the United States (1:30.589). Canadian Florence Brunelle (Trois-Rivières, Que.) finished just off the podium in fourth place.
Sarault’s performance keeps her at the top of the overall women’s standings with 570 points, holding a lead over American skater Corrine Stoddard.