MONTREAL — Marie-Eve Drolet won the women’s 1,500-metre for a third straight year at the Canadian Open short-track speedskating championships on Friday.
The Laterriere, Que., native captured the gold medal in two minutes 27.39 seconds. Jessica Hewitt of Kamloops won the silver medal in 2:27.458, followed by Gabrielle Waddell of Red Deer, Alta., in 2:27.528.
“I’m very satisfied. I knew that I could do it,” said Drolet. “But in speedskating you never know what can happen.
I really took each race on its own today. That helped me mentally and physically to concentrate on one race at a time.”
On the men’s side, Michael Gilday of Yellowknife captured gold in the 1,500-metre in 2:14.594.
Guillaume Bastille of Riviere-du-Loup, Que., was second in 2:14.694, with Vincent Cournoyer of Boucherville, Que., third with a time of 2:15.019.
“It’s my first time I win a 1,500-metre Canadian championship,” said Gilday. “I won one at the Olympic trials, but first time Canadian champion is pretty cool. (Today) I employed a strategy that worked out pretty well. I went in the front, pulled strong and it worked out today.”
The championships serve as the main component for national team selection for the World Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, starting March 8.
The championships continue Saturday with the 500 metres.
