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Kim Boutin, Steven Dubois crowned 2019 Canadian short track champions

Speed skaters Kim Boutin and Steven Dubois captured the overall women's and men's titles at the Canadian short track championships on Sunday in Montreal to solidify their spot in the racing pool for the 2019-20 World Cup season.

8 members named to national speed skating squad ahead of World Cup season

CBC Sports ·
Kim Boutin of Sherbrooke, Que., was named overall women's champion at the Canadian short track championships in Montreal on Sunday after winning the 500 and 1,000-metre races. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press/File)

Speed skaters Kim Boutin and Steven Dubois captured the overall women's and men's titles at the Canadian short track championships on Sunday in Montreal to solidify their spot in the racing pool for the 2019-20 World Cup season.

Pascal Dion, Maxime Laoun and Alyson Charles will also form the national squad along with Courtney Sarault and siblings Cedrik and Danae Blais. They will be joined by four additional skaters per gender to be determined based the adjusted Canadian championship rankings.

Each gender will also have one discretionary selection as recommended by the national team coaches, with the complete racing pool — from which Canada's team for the ISU World Cups and world championships will be selected — announced in the coming weeks.

Boutin, 24, opened Sunday with a victory in the women's 500 metres in 43.608 seconds. Sarault was second in 44.087 and Claudia Gagnon of Saguenay, Que., third in 44.246. Boutin then posted a winning time of one minute 33.645 seconds in the 1,000 to defeat Charles (1:33.583) and Rikki Doak of Fredericton (1:33.645).

"I'm very happy with what I accomplished this weekend," Boutin told Speed Skating Canada. "I find the girls are really pushing and challenging me during training. They are already at an international level and it makes me want to better myself."

3 medals in Olympic debut

In May, Boutin earned four medals at the world championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, and finished third overall.

"It was a powerful return for me after the [2018] Olympics and I'll be pushing for a big season again next year," she said at the time.

WATCH | Kim Boutin cross the line 3rd in the 1,000 metres:

Kim Boutin wins bronze at short track worlds

6 years ago
Duration 3:52
Canada's Kim Boutin finishes 3rd in the women's 1000-metres final at the short track world championships.
Boutin won three medals in her Olympic debut a year ago in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and was named Canada's flag-bearer for the closing ceremony.

She was consistent after delaying the start of her 2018-19 campaign until December.

Boutin was second in her season debut on Dec. 8 in the 1,000 at Almaty, Kazakhstan before grabbing bronze the following day.

'My goal was to stay relaxed'

She opened February with silver in the 1,500 at Dresden, Germany. From there, Boutin won bronze in the women's 500 A final at the final short track World Cup event of the season in Turin, Italy, where she captured gold in the 1,000 the next day.

The 22-year-old Dubois of Lachenaie, Que., breezed to gold-medal wins in the men's 500 (41.029 seconds) and 1,000 (1:31.379).

"I knew I had strong chances of winning if I kept the same approach," said Dubois, who won the 1,000 and 1,500 A final in Turin to end the 2018-19 World Cup season. "My goal was to stay relaxed and rest when others were leading the pack.

"I've won on the national stage [so] all that's left to do is win on the international stage."

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