Canada’s Courtney Sarault earns Olympic bronze in 500m short-track speedskating

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This article was published 12/02/2026 (234 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MILAN – Canadian speedskater Courtney Sarault delivered bronze in the women’s 500 metres, while her more heralded teammate William Dandjinou was edged off the podium in the men’s 1,000 on Thursday at the Milan-Cortina Games.

Sarault, from Moncton, clocked 42.427 seconds and surged past the Netherlands’ Selma Poutsma (42.491) in the final strides, lunging at the line to secure the podium spot.

“It feels surreal. Honestly, the 500-metre wasn’t always my strongest distance and I worked really, really hard this summer, and my coach trusted me when I said I wanted to be a girl of all distances and not be categorised in the longer distances,” said Sarault.

“I think it’s just proof that no matter what you’re going through or if you’re in a tough time, you can always get out of it. And you know, I’m proof. I’m standing here with a medal.”

The Netherlands’ Xandra Velzeboer (41.609) was dominant throughout the evening, breaking the Olympic record twice as well as her own world mark. In the final, she held off Italy’s Arianna Fontana (42.294) to win gold.

Fontana’s silver was the 12th Olympic medal of her career.

Kim Boutin, of Sherbrook, Que., was unable to move up in the final and finished fifth.

It’s the second medal of the Olympics for the 25-year-old Sarault, who won silver in the mixed team relay event earlier in the week.

Sarault won the Crystal Globe as the ISU World Tour champion this fall and finished second in the 500 standings.

Boutin previously captured bronze in the 500  at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and again at the 2022 Beijing Games.

In the men’s 1,000 metres, William Dandjinou finished fourth in a nail-biter, crossing the line in one minute 24.671 seconds. Jens van ‘t Wout (1:24.537) of the Netherlands, China’s Sun Long (1:24.565) and South Korea’s Rim Jongun (1:24.611) grabbed gold, silver and bronze.

Montreal’s Dandjinou led until the final lap when Wout made a move up the inside. Sun and Rim also slipped past as the field surged to the line.

Dandjinou, who was also part of Canada’s silver medal relay team, is the two-time reigning Crystal Globe champion on the ISU World Tour. 

He had been favoured to win a medal in each of the three individual distances in Milan-Cortina.

“Pretty disappointing with the result, but I know I did a good race. My game plan was set, I executed it pretty well until the last lap,” he said. “A little slip, and with a strong field like we have, you can’t manage mistakes, and that was a mistake. 

“Overall, I can’t beat myself too hard about it because I did my best, and today it didn’t work. But, when it doesn’t work, and you are still fourth at the Olympics, it’s pretty good.”

Short-track competition continues Saturday with the women’s 1,000 m qualifying rounds and the 3,000 m relay semifinals.

On the men’s side, Dandjinou will have another shot at his first individual Olympic medal in the 1,500 metres.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2026.