Heartbreak and hope for Team Canada in short track speed skating on Day 8

Day 8 brought mixed results for Team Canada in short track speed skating, with momentum on the women’s side and heartbreak for the men.

Starting with the heartbreak.

William Dandjinou, one of the sport’s bright young stars, came up just short in the men’s 1500m final.

He’d looked strong earlier in the day, posting the fastest time in his semifinal heat. But in a crowded, nine-man final, the 24-year-old finished less than 0.3 seconds behind the bronze medal winner.

Dandjinou, who won silver earlier in these Games in the mixed relay, ultimately finished fifth in the 1500m.

“William was clearly the favourite coming here, and he had set big goals for himself,” coach Marc Gagnon told reporters in French afterwards. “He needs time, but he also needs us to be there to coach him and tell him that he can take some time to cry it out, even though he won’t admit it. He needs it.

“Sometimes, things go your way, sometimes they don’t. Things clearly aren’t going his way right now, but all those decisions that he made [on the track] are the reason why he has won so many races in the last two years.”

Fellow Canadian Steven Dubois, who won silver in the men’s 1500m at Beijing 2022, finished sixth. Félix Roussel, who was part of the mixed relay team at Milano Cortina 2026, received a yellow card in the 1500m semifinal and did not advance.

Now for the hope.

The Canadian quartet of Kim Boutin, Courtney Sarault, Florence Brunelle and Danaé Blais finished second in their semifinal heat to advance to Wednesday’s A final.

READ: Silver medal just the beginning for Canada’s ambitious short track speed skating team

Their time of 4:04.856 was second fastest overall in the semifinals, but just 0.122 seconds faster than the team from China. Had Canada finished third in their heat, they’d have had no shot at the podium.

“It makes us confident,” Blais told reporters in French. “We were able to stay calm and focused. It’s exactly what we had to do to get into the A final.

“We can be very proud of that and it makes us confident that we can handle anything.”

Earlier in the day, in the women’s 1000m heats, Sarault, Boutin, and Brunelle all advanced to Monday’s quarterfinals.

Sarault already has two medals at these Olympic Games, a silver with the mixed relay team and a bronze in the 500m.

Brunelle and Boutin also earned silver in the mixed team relay. For Boutin, that was a fifth Olympic medal over the course of three Winter Olympic Games.