Blais wins first gold in Beijing as Canada claims four medals

Danaé Blais claimed her first career win on the international circuit Saturday with a gold medal in the 1000m at the ISU Short Track World Tour in Beijing. Canada had a stellar four-medal day, as William Dandjinou, Steven Dubois, and the women’s relay team also reached the podium.

Blais, 25, led the 1000m final from start to finish, holding off Dutch skater Xandra Velzeboer (1:29.717) in a thrilling final lap to claim gold with a time of 1:29.678. This victory is Blais’ third individual distance medal, adding to the 1000m silver and 1500m bronze she won in Montreal last year. These achievements earned her the 2023-24 title of Canada’s Female Short Track Athlete of the Year.

“Winning gold is an incredible feeling,” said Blais. “The level of competition is extremely elevated this season, so I didn’t really have the feeling that I was going to reach the top this early on. It’s a tremendous feeling knowing that I have what it takes to become the best. I’m excited for the rest of the weekend and the rest of the season.”

After her first gold medal, Blais joined Kim Boutin, Florence Brunelle, and Courtney Sarault to win gold in the women’s 3000m relay. The Canadians dominated with a time of 4:10.948, comfortably ahead of Korea (4:17.746) and Kazakhstan (4:39.492). With 260 points after three events, the Canadian women lead the World Tour standings, ahead of Italy (224) and Korea (220).

In men’s events, Dandjinou claimed silver in the 1500m, finishing just behind Korea’s Park Jiwon in a hotly contested race. Dandjinou has medaled in every 1500m event this season and leads the distance standings by 40 points.

Dubois added another silver in the 500m (40.289), finishing between China’s Sun Long (40.155) and Liu Shaoang (40.342).

The ISU Short Track World Tour wraps up Sunday with the mixed relay, women’s 1500m and 500m, and men’s 1000m and 5000m relay.