DORDRECHT, Netherlands — Courtney Sarault won gold in the women's 1,000 metres, then joined the relay team for another podium-topping performance on the final day of the season-ending World Cup speedskating event in the Netherlands.
Canadian skaters ended up with five medals overall on Sunday. Kim Boutin of Sherbrooke, Que., and Fredericton's Rikki Doak added silver and bronze in the women's 500 and Montreal's Pascal Dion earned his second 1,000 silver medal of the weekend.
Sarault, from Moncton, N.B., rebounded with a winning performance in the 1,000 in a time of one minute 32.93 seconds after finishing fourth in Saturday's 1,500.
She moved from fourth place to first in the second part of the race, passing Belgium’s Hanne Desmet from the outside before overtaking Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands (bronze, 1:33.137) and Gili Kim of Korea (silver, 1:33.037) from the inside to grab the top spot.
It was Sarault's second 1,000 gold medal of the season and secured her second place in the overall rankings with 776 points.
"Before the race I was pretty tired, but really tried to mentally get into my rhythm and just race my race," Sarault said. "I felt no leg pain when I was making the pass, so I’m really happy I had enough legs for it.
"I’m really excited about my second overall finish in the Crystal Globe ranking. I wasn’t sure at the start of this year if I could get a high ranking, but I’m happy that as the year went on I just got better and better."
Schulting (1,062 points), clinched first overall and captured the inaugural Crystal Globe trophy as the World Cup’s top female skater.
Canadian skaters swept the women's 1,000 races on the weekend after Boutin finished first in Saturday's event.
Later, Sarault, Boutin and Doak teamed up with Renée Steenge of Brampton, Ont., to win women’s relay gold. The Canadians picked up speed with seven laps remaining and never looked back, coasting to their sixth medal of the season in 4:13.541.
Hungary (4:15.134) finished second, while China (4:15.201) was third.
In the women's 500, Boutin crossed the line in second place in 42.301 seconds while Doak was third in 42.397.
World Record holder Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands broke away from the Canadians after a blistering start and won gold in 42.02.
"I knew I had the potential to make the podium, so I’m happy I was able to show what I’m capable of," Doak said. "I felt good the whole race and it ended in a good way. It was super special to share the podium with my teammate Kim."
In Sunday's men's 1,000, Dion worked his way to the front of the pack with two laps remaining but was unable to defend an outside pass from South Korea's Ji Won Park (1:25.359) in the entry of the final turn, settling for a second-place finish (1:25.514). Italy’s Luca Spechenhauser (1:25.619) rounded out the podium.
"I was aiming for the gold medal so that I could finish first overall in the 1000m standings, but (Park) had a very good race and took advantage of my loss of balance to pass me in the final lap," Dion said.
Dion and teammate Steven Dubois finished the season in the top-5 of the overall World Cup standings, ranked third and fourth, respectively. Park was crowned the winner of the men's Crystal Globe after topping the standings with 1,068 points.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2023.
The Canadian Press
