TORONTO – Samuel Girard of Ferland-et-Boilleau, Que., and Sasha Fathoullin of Calgary raced to a 1-2 Canadian finish in the first of two men’s 500-metre events on Saturday at the ISU short track speed skating world cup.

The result came one week after Girard finished behind Charles Hamelin in the 1000-metre in Montreal. Hamelin received a penalty in Saturday’s quarter-finals and was eliminated.

“It’s pretty cool to see Canada go 1-2 last week and again today,” said Girard. “We feel like Canada deserves to be right there with the top countries, and it’s great to be able to show it. And it was great to do it in Canada, in front of a crowd that was cheering us on.”

Girard and Fathoullin were two of four Canadian skaters to collect medals on Saturday in Toronto, which is hosting a speed skating world cup event for the first time.

Marianne St-Gelais of Saint-Felicien, Que., and Francois Hamelin of Sainte-Julie, Que., both picked up bronze medals in the women’s and men’s 1500-metre, respectively.

St-Gelais now has three medals this season. She earned gold in the 500 and silver in the 1000 in Montreal last weekend.

“Not every skater at this level can be on the podium in all distances, so I’m really proud of that,” said St-Gelais. “I worked really hard on that this summer, and I knew it would pay off. I felt really great out there on the ice, it was a really good day for me.”

Francois Hamelin collected his second individual medal in two world cups, after a stretch of over three seasons without one. Saturday’s medal was his first in a world cup 1500 event.

“After a lot of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place finishes in the 1500 over the years, I broke through the wall at last,” he said. “I’m on the podium, so I’m really happy.

“It shows that I’m still part of the elite. This medal was well-deserved because it was a high-level final, without any falls or disqualifications.”

Both Canadian relays finished first of their heat in Saturday’s semifinals to earn spots in Sunday’s A finals.