All of the Canadian entries remained in medal contention Friday as the short track speed skating World Cup season got underway in Changchun, China, under a new competitive format.
This season, preliminaries and heats in all distances are held the first day of a World Cup event, with repechages, quarter-finals, semifinals and two individual finals on the second and third days.
In past years, each individual distance was contested in its entirety in one day.
Francois- Louis Tremblay, foreground, had a good day for Canada on Friday in China.
(Chen Xiaowei/Associated Press file photo)
Here is how Canadians fared by distance on Friday:
- In the 500 metres, Francois-Louis Tremblay of Montreal, Charles Hamelin of Ste-Julie and Olivier Jean of Lachenaie advanced to the quarter-finals in men's competition; for the women, Kalyna Roberge of Ste-Etienne-de-Lauzon and Anne Maltais of Quebec City advanced to the quarter-finals, while Anouk Leblanc-Boucher of Montreal is headed to the repechage. All are from Quebec.
- In the 1,000, Tremblay, Steve Robillard and Mathieu Giroux, both of Montreal, advanced to the quarter-finals for the men. For the women, Amanda Overland of Kitchener, Ont., and Raphaele Lemieux of Riviere-du-Loup, Que., advanced to the quarter-finals, while Roberge goes to the repechage.
- In the 1,500, all the Canadians advanced to the quarter-finals: Jean, Robillard, Hamelin and Marc-André Monette of Pointe-aux Trembles, Que., for the men, and Leblanc-Boucher, Maltais, Lemieux and Nita Navrith of Montreal for the women.
- In the men's relay, the Canadian men advanced to the semifinals, with Hamelin, Tremblay, Monette and Giroux. The women's relay starts Saturday.
"It's very different to compete under this format," said Canadian national team coach Martin Gagne.
"It's a long process. It requires a lot of focus for the skaters. I like the addition of the repechage, because sometimes you get knocked out of [the] race due to some bad luck. But tomorrow [Saturday], Anouk could potentially race six times in one day."
Friday's races started at 9:30 a.m. local time, and the schedule wasn't completed until nearly 6 p.m.
"It was a bit strange to race this kind of schedule," said Roberge. "I'm not sure about it yet. Today my races were close together, so it wasn't so long for me. But I'm looking at a very heavy schedule on Sunday."
Saturday's competition features the 500- and 1,500-metre finals.
courtesy Canadian Sport News