Canadian Steven Dubois has won a silver medal in the men’s 1,500-metre short-track speedskating event at the Beijing Olympics.
The 24-year-old Dubois from Terrebonne, Que. claimed second place in a photo-finish over bronze medallist Semion Elistratov of Russia.
Hwang Daeheon of South Korea won the gold medal. Hwang is the world record holder in the 1,000 and won silver in the 500 at the 2018 Games in PyeongChang.
Dubois had a bumpy ride to his 1,500 final. The 24-year-old from Terrebonne, Que. came into the race as the lesser known of the three Canadian athletes in the field that included decorated veteran Charles Hamelin.
Dubois crashed in his semifinal, but advanced to the A final when 2018 silver medallist Sjinkie Kneght of the Netherlands was penalized.
He began the medal round at the back but climbed into second and stayed there, battling to hold off Russia’s Semion Elistratov in the final laps and kicking his blade forward at the finish.
“I have been training for the 500 for the whole year, so the 1,500 is not my distance for sure. But I have been having good results for the past three, four years in this distance.,” Dubois said of his silver medal.
“I knew that if I was smart in the race, use my legs and don’t make bad choices I could be there. That’s what I did. I did one pass, I guess two, but one big pass. And that’s all what it took to get a medal.”
Dubois was making his Olympic debut after being named a reserve for the 2018 team.
He was the lone Canadian in the 1,500 final after five-time medallist Hamelin, 37, and Pascal Dion, 27, both failed to make it beyond the semifinals.
—The Canadian Press
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