Canada's Charles Hamelin, right, and China's Wenhao Liang during the 1000m semi final event during day three of the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Sunday March 13, 2011. (AP Photo / Owen Humphreys, PA)Owen Humphreys/The Associated Press
Canada's men's short-track team added another title to its illustrious resume Sunday - world champion.
Brothers Charles and Francois Hamelin of Ste-Julie, Que., Michael Gilday of Yellowknife and Olivier Jean of Lachenaie, Que., captured gold in the men's relay. It highlighted a three-medal haul for Canada at the world short-track speedskating championships Sunday.
"We really wanted to end the season with the world championships title, and we did it. It's amazing. I'm really excited about it," Gilday said.
The Canadian men, who won relay gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and then claimed the overall Word Cup title this season, crossed in a time of six minutes 52.731. Germany was second in 6:54.693, while the Americans took the bronze in 7:01.659.
Charles Hamelin added a silver in the men's 1,000 metres, while the Canadian women added a bronze in their relay.
Hamelin finished in 1:28.663 in the 1,000, which was won by South Korea's Noh Jinkyu in 1:28.552. China's Wenhao Liango won the bronze in 1:29.203. Francois Hamelin of Ste-Julie was fourth.
"It was a great weekend for me, I felt good and I'm really satisfied with the races I did," Charles Hamelin said. "Except for a small mistake in the 500, I had a really good competition.
"My legs were strong, and my racing tactics worked out great. Noh of Korea was the strongest throughout the championships, and he fully deserves the title of world champion."
The women's relay team of Marie-Eve Drolet of Laterriere, Que., Jessica Hewitt of Kamloops, B.C., Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Que., and Marianne St-Gelais of St-Felicien, Que., recorded a time of 4:18.043.
"We had a good race," St-Gelais said. "Our strategy was to start in front with a good rhythm, because the ice isn't really good and it doesn't allow to quickly gather speed for passes.
"The Chinese came back strong in the end after resting in second place for the first part of the race, and the Dutch surprised us in the last lap. We didn't think they were that close to us."
China won the gold in 4:16.295, while the Netherlands was second in 4:17.725.