MONTREAL, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Four races were held at the ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Tour Montreal leg on Saturday with Canada becoming the biggest winner, while Lin Xiaojun claimed China's only medal of the day in the men's 500 meters.
Canada's reigning world champion William Dandjinou won the men's 500m title with a time of 40.701 seconds, and his teammate Steven Dubois took silver in 40.797, while Lin finished third in 40.969. In the same category, Chinese skater Liu Shaoang placed third in the final B, while Liu Shaolin was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
In the men's 1,500m, Dandjinou continued his winning streak, defeating South Korea's Park Ji-won with a time of 2:18.607 to secure gold, and Dubois earned bronze. Both Sun Long and Li Wenlong of China were eliminated in the semifinals.
Dutch star Xandra Velzeboer claimed gold in the women's 1,000m in 1:31.011, and American skaters Kristen Santos-Griswold and Corinne Stoddard took silver and bronze, respectively. Gong Li achieved the best result for China, finishing third in the final B.
The women's 3,000m relay saw Italy, South Korea and the Netherlands take the top three spots, while the Chinese team did not qualify for the final A, finishing first in the final B.
In the men's 5,000m relay semifinals, China advanced to the final A as the second-placed team in its heat and will compete for medals against Canada, Italy and the Netherlands. In the mixed relay semifinals, China fell short against the United States and Canada, missing out on the final A.
The three-day Montreal leg will conclude on Sunday, with the final competition day featuring finals for the men's 1,000m, women's 1,500m, women's 500m, men's 5,000m relay and mixed relay. ■
