Canada's Michael Gilday (R) and Travis Jayney of the U.S. skate during the men's 1000 meters qualification race at the ISU World Cup Short Track speed skating competitions in Montreal, October 22, 2010. REUTERS/Mathieu BelangerMATHIEU BELANGER/Reuters
Marianne St-Gelais of St-Felicien, Que., won silver in the women's 1,000 metres and Michael Gilday of Yellowknife took silver in the men's 1,000 to highlight a four-medal Saturday for Canada at the opening event of the short-track speedskating World Cup.
Also Saturday, Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Que., and Guillaume Bastille of Riviere-du-Loup, Que., won bronze medals in the women's and men's 1,500 metres, respectively.
It was the first career individual World Cup medal for Maltais, the first medal in the 1,000 for St-Gelais and the first medal in the 1,500 for Bastille.
St-Gelais led the women's 1,000 final with two laps to go, but American Katherine Reutter passed her outside to take gold in one minute 31.022 seconds.
St-Gelais finished just behind in 1:31.181 and Liu Qiuhong of China won bronze in 1:31.310.
"I was trying a new strategy in the 1000 metres this weekend," said St-Gelais, who won a pair of silver medals at the Vancouver Olympics. "I was surprised in crossing the finish line because I thought the Chinese skater would come from behind and try to pass me, they always do that, but there was no one right behind me."
Marie-Eve Drolet of Laterriere, Que., and Valerie Lambert of Sherbrooke, Que., were eliminated in the quarter-finals and finished ninth and 15th respectively.
In the men's 1,000, Gilday came from the back in the last lap with a beautiful inside pass to take the silver in 1:31.120. Thibault Fauconnnet of France won in 1:31.096, while American Travis Jayner took bronze in 1:31.208.
"I'm happy but not satisfied, I knew I was in good shape and since the Koreans are not here, I really wanted to win," Gilday said.
The South Korean team is skipping the meet in Montreal and next week's in Quebec City while they sort out a controversy over race-fixing and favouritism back home.
Francois Hamelin of Ste-Julie, Que., was eliminated in the repechage final and has to settle for 17th place.
In the women's 1,500, Maltais took the lead with an outside pass with five laps left to go. The other skaters were quick to catch up with her, and American Lana Gehring passed Maltais two laps before the end, followed by Zhou Yang of China. Gehring won in 2:24.449, followed by Zhou (2:24.465) and Maltais (2:24.560).
"This is my first individual medal in a World Cup," Maltais said. "It was the objective this weekend so I'm really happy."
On the men's side, double Olympic gold medallist Charles Hamelin of Ste-Julie, Que., seemed poised to win until he was passed by all three skaters at the final turn.
Jeff Simon won in 2:25.954, fellow American Simon Cho took silver in 2:26.004 and Bastille, who reached the final through the repechage, took bronze in 2:26.157.
Hamelin had to settle for fourth place in 2:26.285.
"Having raced in the repechage was possibly an advantage for me," Bastille said. "At this point, I really need to race. Today it was good for me, it allowed me to find the right feeling on the ice."
Francois-Louis Tremblay of Boucherville, Que., won the B final for seventh place overall.