Canada's William Dandjinou reacts after not placing in the men's 1500-metre short-track speed skating final at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
After another disappointing finish in a race that he was expected to win, short-track superstar William Dandjinou told reporters he had just one thing to say.
“One day I will be Olympic champion. Mark my words,” he said. “Thank you.”
And then the 24-year-old walked away.
As short track’s most dominant athlete, Dandjinou came to Milan as one of the faces of Team Canada.
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He was seen as a gold-medal contender in all five of his events. But after a strong start - he finished silver as part of the mixed team relay - Dandjinou has struggled to find his footing.
In the men’s 1,000 metres, a momentary misstep saw Dandjinou fall from first to fourth. Similarly on Saturday, Dandjinou came out in front in the 1,500 metres but lost his lead after flying wide when he got caught in traffic. He came fifth.
Britain's Niall Treacy and Canada's William Dandjinou during in the short-track speed skating men's 1500-metre final.WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images
It was a tense race with numerous crash-outs, including Canada’s Steven Dubois.
Dutch skater Jens van ‘t Wout was gold, South Korea’s Hwang Dae-heon was silver and Latvia’s Roberts Kruzbergs was bronze.
Head coach Marc Gagnon said Dandjinou is a racer who takes aggressive risks in his push to win, and that can cost him other medals.
“William won’t settle for second or third. He wants to go for the win. That gets him to make mistakes here and there. Unfortunately that’s two in a row,” he said. “But that’s also what makes him win so often during the year.”
Gagnon said they are staying positive and hoping for a better result in the 500 metres.
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