Florence Brunelle wins double gold at Canadian short track speedskating championships

MONTREAL — Florence Brunelle brought home double gold on Friday at the Canadian short track speedskating championships.

The Trois-Rivières, Que., native won the women’s 1,000 metres in one minute 31.935, just outstretching Courtney Sarault at the finish line. Sarault, a four-time Olympic medallist at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, was penalized for kicking out at the finish.

Danaé Blais (1:32.595) of Châteauguay, Que., grabbed silver and Kiera Pagé of Saint-Félicien, Que., earned bronze (1:53.263) thanks to Sarault’s infraction. It was Pagé’s first career podium finish at a Canadian championship.

The 22-year-old Brunelle followed that up with a win in the second 1,500 of the competition in 2:30.640. Ann-Sophie Bachand (2:30.936) of Sherbrooke, Que., and Claudia Gagnon (2:31.021) of La Baie, Que., took silver and bronze, respectively.

“I’m starting to feel the fatigue, but I trained super hard heading into this competition and things went very well today. Regardless of my results yesterday, I was happy with my day,” Brunelle said.

“Today, I felt even more connected to the ice and while I won two gold medals, I was also much happier with the way that I skated overall.”

On the men’s side, Félix Roussel earned his third consecutive gold at the event with a win in the 1,000 after winning the 1,500 and 500 on Thursday. The 25-year-old Sherbrooke native (1:25.165) beat out Mathieu Pelletier (1:25.250) of Laval, Que., and Maxime Laoun (1:25.348) of Montreal.

However, Montreal’s William Dandjinou ended Roussel’s chase for four golds by winning the second 1,500 in 2:21.208. Roussel finished in 2:21.377, while Alexandre Migner of Sainte-Julie, Que., placed third (2:21.476).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2026.