(Montreal) Steven Dubois was not very happy to find himself in the draft this Saturday morning. He left his bad mood on the ice of the Maurice-Richard arena on this second day of competition at the Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Montreal.
The Terrebonne skater initially dominated his first repechage heat in the 1000 meters, exploding with just over three laps to go to win by several lengths. He later pulled off a closer race in the repechage semifinals. He took control of the race only on the final lap to secure his place in the quarter-finals of the first 1000m of the day.
Dubois, a triple medalist at the last Olympic Games in Beijing, had already secured his place in the quarters of the second 1000m on the program on Saturday.
In the 1500m, Maxime Laoun and Jordan Pierre-Gilles also had to go through the repechage. Laoun was the only one to secure his place in the quarterfinals, winning the second repechage race. Pierre-Gilles was penalized for a fall involving three skaters in this race and finished last.
On the women’s side, Rikki Doak finished first in her two repechage races and will be in the quarter-finals of the 1500m.
Ultimately, in the mixed 2000m relay, the Canadian team of Danaé Blais, Steven Dubois, Félix Roussel and Renée Steenge was unable to qualify for the A final. Roussel fell during her first run, relegating Canada to last place of its wave. He will play the B final in the afternoon.
The program is busy with the presentation of both 1000m for men and women, in addition to the 500 and 1500m. The mixed relay, followed by the 3000m relay for women and the 5000m relay for men will also be contested.
