Canada’s St-Gelais takes bronze in 500m short-track speedskating World Cup race

SHANGHAI – Canada’s Marianne St-Gelais finished third in women’s 500-metre World Cup short-track speedskating race Saturday.

St-Gelais, from Saint-Felicien, Que., was passed at the finish line by silver medallist Min Jeong Choi of South Korea.

Britain’s Elise Christie won gold.

“I started from the fourth spot in the final and I knew I was in for a lot of action. So I was ready for anything,” St-Gelais said.

“At the same time, I wanted to risk doing certain things that I don’t normally do. There was a lot of contact at the start of the race. I managed to get into second place and I ended up overtaking a skater way too early, and it cost me my position. I’m a little bit disappointed about finishing third, but I did certain things differently, so it bodes well for upcoming races.”

This was St-Gelais’ third medal in the 500m distance in three World Cup stages this season. She has a total of four medals overall this season.

Kasandra Bradette of Saint-Felicien was second in the B final, while Valerie Maltais of Saguenay, Que., was eliminated in the quarter-finals after making contact with a Chinese skater and falling.

In the men’s 500, Samuel Girard of Ferland-et-Boilleau, Que., and Charles Hamelin of Sainte-Julie, Que., were eliminated at the quarter-final stage. Hamelin won his heat, but he was disqualified because he forgot to put on his transponder.

“That was my best 500 so far this season and I was really happy about it. Unfortunately, I was unable to continue the competition and it’s really disappointing,” said Hamelin.