VANCOUVER — Jens Van’t Wout of the Netherlands just clipped Maxime Laoun of Montreal to the finish line to win the men’s 500-metre A final at the ISU Short Track World Tour opener in Vancouver on Saturday night. Van’t Wout was clocked at 40.551, while Laoun posted a time of 40.725 at the Pacific Coliseum. Laoun, 30, said his silver medal carried special significance following the death of his grandfather a couple of years ago. “My grandpa died a couple years ago. His birthday was yesterday, and I had a picture that popped up into my memories where I was holding a gold medal and he was smiling.” Furkan Akar of Turkey finished third at 41.334, while five-time Olympic medallist and six-time world champion Steven Dubois of Laval, Que., finished a disappointing fourth at 54.389. Dubois is the reigning world champion in the 500 m event, winning gold at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Games. Mathieu Pelletier of Laval, Que., finished third in the men’s 500-metre B final, in 41.262. Jongun Rim of Seoul, South Korea, posted the winning time of 40.887, while Kay Huisman of the Netherlands was second at 41.129. Minjeong Choi of Seoul won the women’s 1,000 A final in one minute 32.954 seconds. Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherland was second in 1:33.074, with Italian Gloria Ioriatti third in 1:33.216. Canadian Courtney Sarault of Moncton, N.B., who won two silver and two bronze medals at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, won the women’s 1,000-metres B final in 1:33.415. Sukhee Shim of South Korea was second in 1:33.531 and Italian Elisa Confortola was third in 1:33.552. Van’t Wout won his second event of the night, taking the men’s 1,500 metres A final in 2:20.025. Rim finished second in 2:20.082, while Shogo Miyata of Japan was third in 2:20.188. Felix Roussel of Sherbrooke, Que., finished fifth in 2:20.543. The Canadian women’s 3,000-metres relay team of Florence Brunelle of Trois-Rivieres, Que., Courtney Sarault of Montreal, Claudia Gagnon of Montreal and Danae Blais of Montreal, finished first in the A final in 4:13.609, edging the Republic of Korea, which finished in 4:13.881. The Netherlands was third (4:20.617), and Italy was fourth. Canada was in third place after the final exchange when a collision between the leading Italian and Dutch teams sent both crashing to the ice, allowing Brunelle to skate past them for the victory. “I feel like that’s short track. All the teams were still in contention going into the last few laps. There was a lot of movement in that race, and we tried to get to the front, but it didn’t really happen the way we wanted it to. We kept believing and kept our speed, and that put us in the best position to fight in those last few laps,” Brunelle said. Brunelle also praised the crowd of 3,492 at the Pacific Coliseum, where international short-track competition returned to Vancouver after 16 years. “Skating here tonight was incredible. Bringing short track back to Vancouver, a place that is maybe less familiar with it than Quebec, is amazing. I hope that people fell in love with the sport tonight. I look forward to racing here again tomorrow and for many years to come.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2026.
