Dandjinou captures gold again, Canada wins short track Crystal Globe

MILAN - Short track speedskating star William Dandjinou captured gold again to help Canada win the team Crystal Globe as the top country on the ISU WorldTour on Sunday.

Dandjinou won the men's 1,000 metres in one minute 23.025 seconds to edge Italy’s Pietro Sighel (1:23.119) and Korea's Jang Sung-woo (1:23.220) on the final day of competition.

The 23-year-old from Montreal became the first Canadian to claim the men's Crystal Globe on Saturday after a fourth-place finish in the 500-metre event. He claimed eight gold and two silver medals in a dominant season.

“Being able to conclude the World Tour with a gold is amazing," Dandjinou said. "Short track is a beautiful sport. You can go up fast and you can go down fast, so you’ve got to enjoy the moments. I wouldn’t have predicted that I would win the Crystal Globe at all, but with our team I knew it was possible. 

"It’s an individual sport, but it’s a team sport as well and I’m just happy to be here celebrating with my team now."

Canada also collected silver medals in the men's 5,000m relay and 2,000m mixed team relay on Sunday.

The Canadian team won 37 medals — including 21 gold — across six WorldTour stops and totalled 8,731 points in races this season, finishing 1,812 ahead of the Netherlands.

“I’m very proud of the team," said Canadian coach Marc Gagnon. "This year, we started doing things a little differently and working more as a team.

"This good spirit gives us momentum for what we’ve been doing since the beginning of the summer, going for that Crystal Globe. If you’d asked me before the season, I would have said that we will give it a hell of a try. I was confident of the fact that we had a good chance."

Steven Dubois of Terrebonne, Que., won the men's overall 500m title, while Jordan Pierre-Gilles of Sherbrooke, Que., finished in a three-way tie for third. 

Danaé Blais of Châteauguay, Que., finished third overall in the women's 1,000m and Florence Brunelle of Trois-Rivières, Que., was third in the 500m.

The world short track championships run from March 14 to 16 in Beijing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2025.