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CALGARY – Courtney Sarault says her father was a "fourth line mill" in the NHL. She showed the same tenacity in short track speed skating to win a medal in her first World Cup final.
The 18-year-old from Moncton, NB, won the silver medal in the women's 1,500-meter race Saturday in Calgary.
Sarault led much of the final, challenging the challenges of more experienced runners. But she was cut in gold by a skate in a photo finish with Suzanne Schulting from the Netherlands.
Sarault and Schulting, the 1,000-meter Olympic champion, fought side by side to win the victory at the finish line.
Schulting fell after both skaters crossed, but won the video replay.
"I was one centimeter from the gold medal and for my first World Cup, it's really very incredible for me," said Sarault.
"I was not intimidated by the other girls, I know that they are Olympians, but I went there (thinking)" Well, I come from Canada and my country is strong and j & rsquo; Worked hard to get here and I deserve a place. "
His father Yves has played in 106 NHL games with Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa and Nashville.
"It was a fourth-line grinder, sometimes third-line," Sarault said. "I certainly had my father's determination.
"I would have liked to be able to push a little harder at the end.The race will not be over before the finish line.It's my first World Cup.I'm still learning." "
Ekaterina Efremenkova of Russia won bronze in the race.
The World Cup in Calgary marked the beginning not only of the 2018-2019 season of Canada's national team, but also of the next quadrennial period leading up to the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.
The next generation of followers in Canada began making its appearance at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where Samuel Girard, 21, won the gold medal and Kim Boutin, 23, collected money and two bronze.
This trend continued Saturday with Saraly and Montreal's Alyson Charles.
Charles, 20, who celebrated her birthday on Tuesday, also won a medal in her first World Cup final with a bronze medal in the women's 500-meters.
"I was trying to stay calm because it was the first final of my first World Cup," said Charles. "I was not really expecting that, I was just like" calm down and give it your all. "
"I was counting on starting the game and I knew that the first two girls right next to me were really strong in that distance, I was trying to pick up the pace and move on at the end. past."
Natalia Maliszewska of Poland won the gold medal and Yara van Kerkhof of the Netherlands won the silver medal.
Sarault, Charles and teammates Claudia Gagnon of Saguenay, Que., And Camille de Serres-Rainville of Montreal have qualified the women's relay team for Sunday's final.
The Canadian men's relay team composed of Girard, Charles Hamelin of Sainte-Julie, Que., Triple Olympic gold medalist, Charle Cournoyer, of Boucherville, QC, and Montreal, Pascal Dion, also participated in the Sunday final.
Dion reached the men's 1,500 meters final and finished fifth. Japan's Kazuki Yoshinaga, Lee June Seo of South Korea and Vladislav Bykanov of Israel won the gold, silver and bronze medals respectively.
A mixed relay composed of teams consisting of two men and two women will make its Olympic debut in 2022.
Charles, Alison Desmarais of Vanderhoof, BC, Steven Dubois of Lachenaie, Que., And Cedrik Blais of Chateauguay, Que., Finished third in their semi-final in Sunday's final.
Wu Dajing of China, Shaoang Liu of Hungary and Kim Gun Woo of South Korea were first and third, respectively, in the men's 500 meters.
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