Canadians are one of Short Track’s powerhouses – they lie third in the overall Olympic medal table in the sport – and the country heads to the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games with an exciting squad in place.
Foremost among them is Sprint specialist Kim Boutin. On her day in the 500m, a distance at which she holds the world record, the lightening quick 27-year-old is uncatchable. She is also capable of winning medals in the longer races.
Boutin has three Olympic medals to her name already: bronzes in the 500m and 1500m, and a 1000m silver, all from PyeongChang 2018. She has also made it on to the podium at a number of World Championships – but has never grabbed a major gold. 2022 feels like the time to put that right.
Kim Boutin (CAN) Wins silver in the Women's 1000m at the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games ©AFP
“I want to embrace this moment,” she said about the build-up to the Games. “I want to reach goals, I want to succeed and I want to remember all my races”. “Naturally I’m more strength and power. I need to train a lot to be stronger at the 1500m and the 1000m. But at the Games it’s easier because it’s race and day rest, race and day rest. How I feel right now with my situation with the load, I think it’s going to be good.”
Boutin is hitting form at the right time: in the 500m at the ISU World Cup in Dordrecht, she took gold in style, possessing far too much pace for a classy field.
Alongside Boutin, Courtney Lee Sarault also seems a good bet for an Olympic medal. Sarault took silver at the 2021 World Championships, and the 21-year-old has been stellar this season, making it on to several podiums and looking like the main challenge to the Netherlands’ supreme Suzanne Schulting in the 1500m. Like Boutin, Sarault is missing a major gold from her collection and will be eyeing Beijing 2022 as the place to get one.
In the Men’s field, 2021-22 has proved slightly surprising. Most fans would have expected Canada’s main challenge to come from veteran warhorse Charles Hamelin, and the ever-improving Steven Dubois.
Instead, it has been the solid, talented – but previously unspectacular – Pascal Dion who has stepped up a level to look like their key Olympic player. Dion tops the rankings in the 1000m, a distance at which he has been incredibly consistent all term.
Team Canada competes at the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating event in Debrecen (HUN) 2021 ©International Skating Union
“When I look at my past performances, I’ve never been in the top 10 so it’s so great to be in first place,” he said. “For the past two years I have been really improving in training. I also feel way better in myself at the moment, and more confident when I race. I think that’s because I have found a real balance in my life. I’m studying finance at university and I do a lot of biking – I don’t just do the ice. These other activities really help because they make me feel better when I am on the ice. I am very positive.”
Canada should also be a major force in the Relays. The Men’s team, featuring Hamelin and Dion, took bronze at PyeongChang 2018, and have been improved further by the rise of Dubois and the excellent Jordan Pierre-Gilles. They stormed to World Cup gold at both Nagoya and Debrecen, are ranked No.1 overall, and will be the team to beat in Beijing.
The Women’s team are ranked No.3 and, with the talents of Boutin, Sarault, Florence Brunelle and Alyson Charles, will be a podium threat, too.
Alyson Charles and Courtney Lee Sarault (CAN) at the ISU Four Continents Short Track Speed Skating Championships (CAN) 2020©International Skating Union
