Courtney Sarault emerged victorious in the women’s overall category, and Canada secured its second consecutive team Crystal Globe at the conclusion of the short track World Tour finale held in Dordrecht, Netherlands on Sunday. Hailing from Moncton, Sarault claimed silver in the 1,500 meters and then seized the gold in the 500m event, amassing a total of nine medals (comprising five gold, three silver, and a bronze) across the four World Tour stages.
At 25 years old, Sarault made history as the first Canadian female to clinch the overall World Tour title, earning an impressive 980 points, a significant 150 points ahead of the runner-up, Corrine Stoddard from the United States.
Sarault, the reigning Canadian champion, triumphed in the 500m event by a narrow margin of 0.304 seconds over Stoddard, clocking in at 42.695 seconds. Starting from the second position, she surprised reigning world champion Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands with an outside pass on the third lap to secure the top spot.
In addition to her 500m victory, Sarault also claimed the women’s 1,000m title with 300 points on Saturday, earning her first career Crystal Globe by finishing 70 points ahead of Belgium’s Hanne Desmet after the final race.
The Canadian Ice Maples, who secured the team title last year, repeated their success by accumulating 31 total medals (comprising 15 gold, seven silver, and nine bronze) and amassing 5,656 points, comfortably ahead of the Dutch Lions in second place with 4,807 points.
The Crystal Globe sweep was completed as Montreal’s William Dandjinou secured the men’s overall title for the second consecutive year. The Canadian contingent in Dordrecht honored injured teammates Kim Boutin and Maxime Laoun by bringing their photos onto the ice during the team trophy presentation.
The shortened World Tour, reduced from six stops to four due to the Milan-Cortina Olympics, will determine the quota spots for each country. The Canadian high-performance program will utilize the results to select the five men and five women to represent Canada in Italy, with the roster set to be announced in the coming weeks.