Canadian speed skaters continued their medal haul Sunday, winning two gold medals and a silver at the short track World Cup event in Jeonju, South Korea.
Montreal's François-Louis Tremblay fought off the flu bug to earn gold in the men's 500-metre event, then led Canada to a win in the 5,000-metre relay.
François-Louis Tremblay, front, won his second gold medal of the season in the mens 500 metres Sunday at the short track World Cup event in Jeonju, South Korea.
(Lee Jin-man/Associated Press)
Marc-André Monette of Pointe-aux-Trembles, Que., concluded Canada's success on ice with a silver in the men's 1,000.
In the 500, Tremblay skated to his second gold of the event this season with a time of 42.992 seconds. Japan's Takhiro Fujimoto finished second in 43.167, while South Korea's Kyung-Taek earned the bronze medal in 43.182.
Olivier Jean of Lachenaie, Que., failed to advance to the final after falling in the quarter-final round.
"I didn't feel as strong as usual," said Tremblay, a double Olympic medallist at the Torino Winter Olympics. "So I started the race a bit slower. My goal was to keep myself in contention for the gold and battle it out at the end.
"The Koreans came after me with three laps to go but I stood my ground. This is the best start to a season in my career."
Quebecers take gold in 6:52.025
In the 5,000 relay, Tremblay, Jean, Charles Hamelin of Ste-Julie, Que., and Montreal's Steve Robillard raced to gold in six minutes 52.025 seconds.
The Chinese team took the silver in 6:52.480 and the defending Olympic champion South Koreans overcame a fall with 12 laps remaining to win bronze in 6:57.552.
"It's great for our confidence after placing second last weekend," said Tremblay. "We would have liked to battle the Koreans until the finish. We felt really confident about our race."
Monette earns 1st career individual medal
In the men's 1,000, Monette faced three South Korean skaters but still managed to win a silver to earn his first career individual medal at a World Cup event.
Hyun-Kon Kim of South Korea won the gold in 1:30.933 with Monette finishing second in 1:31.138. Kim's countryman and Olympic champion, Hyun-Soo Ahn, place third in 1:33.157.
South Korea's third enter in the 1,000, Ho-Suk Lee, was disqualified.
"It's a special day for me," said Monette, a rookie on the circuit.
"Especially to get a medal against such a tough field. It was a tactical game with a lot of speed shifting going on. The key for me over these first two World Cups was to never get frustrated. I just tried to keep learning. I gained a lot of experience."
Leblanc-Boucher finishes 3rd in 500 B final
On the women's side, Montreal's Anouk Leblanc-Boucher finished third in the 500 B final and seventh overall, but teammate Kalyna Roberge of Ste-Étienne-de-Lauzon, Que., was disqualified in the semifinal.
In the 1,000, Amanda Overland of Kitchener, Ont., was fourth in the B final for eighth overall. Nita Avrith of Montreal and Raphaele Lemieux of Rivière-du-Loup, Que., were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
The Canadians head home winning five medals the past two days to go along with the seven they earned last weekend at the World Cup opener in China.
With files from the Canadian PressRelated
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