Canadian William Dandjinou earns historic short-track overall championship

MILAN — It wasn’t a victory but it was more than enough to earn Canadian William Dandjinou a historic accomplishment.

Dandjinou finished fourth in a men’s 500-metre event at World Cup short-track speeding event to capture the overall title. The 23-year-old from Montreal not only dethroned two-time champion Park Ji-won of Korea but became the first Canadian to earn the crown.

Dandjinou began the day with a ninth-place finish in the 1,500-metre event.

“I am very happy to have clinched the Crystal Globe today,” he said. “I would have liked to have better individual races, but sometimes it’s important to focus on the bigger objective and not the performance of the moment.

“So, overall, I think it was a great day that was more concentrated on what needed to be done than on perfection.”

Florence Brunelle, of Trois-Rivieres, Que., overcame a fall to finish third in the women’s 1,000-metre event but was relegated to the bottom of the standings after being penalized for not staying in her lane. That gave Italy’s Elisa Confortola third spot.

Danae Blais of Chateauguay, Que., was also involved in the crash and settled for fourth.

The women’s relay squad of Blais, Brunelle, Kim Boutin, of Sherbrooke, Que., and Moncton’s Courtney Sarault earned a fourth-place finish.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2025.