Short track speed skating: William Dandjinou overcomes adversity to shine

William Dandjinou would have had every reason to give up, but he never gave up despite the doubts that invaded him and his efforts bore fruit this weekend, during the short track speed skating trials taking place at Place Bell

A reserve at the Beijing Olympics last February, Dandjinou worked hard during summer training, before experiencing another disappointment during the first trials in October at the Ice Centre He was unable to qualify for the first World Cup stages of the season

“I had doubts, he admitted, and I took a week off after the selections After getting stoned during the summer, I was experiencing another disappointment after the hard blow of the Games

While the guys were leaving for the World Cup, coach Yannick Desmeules helped me a lot I also changed my mindset

I am calmer and I scatter less I channel my energy better

I am on the right track ” After the first two World Cups, in Montreal and Salt Lake City, the 24-year-old skater had the opportunity to participate in the Four Continents Championship, where he finished third in the 1000m

Golden chance The Canadian team then gave Mathieu Pelletier a break for the two World Cup stops in Kazakhstan in December, so that he could be at the top of his game in anticipation of the world juniors The change allowed Dandjinou to return to the World Cup, where he reached his first career A final with a fourth-place finish in the 1500m

“After my medal at Four Continents I realized I was capable and my final in Kazakhstan boosted my confidence even further Doubt can bring good things and my recent successes are even more satisfying because of the hardships I have overcome

This comeback means a lot to me and I'm proud " Surprise Although he had gained confidence over the past few weeks, Dandjinou did not expect to be as successful

He has two victories to his credit in the 1000m and 1500m as well as a third and fourth place in the 500m In this last event on Saturday, he was in the lead before a collision with Félix Roussel in the last corner caused a fall to three

Officials disqualified Roussel and demanded a second start Leader after a few laps, Dandjinou ran out of gas to finish in fourth place in the event won by Maxime Laoun, who had not been involved in the collision

“I knew I was in good shape, but I didn't expect to do as well and compete with Pascal Dion and Maxime Laoun, he admitted I continue to learn from them

” If the product of the Laval club is surprised by his performance, this is not the case for his coach “I am not surprised, assured Sébastien Cros, but I say to myself “It is finally happening”

During the selections for the Games last year, he had shown his abilities by fighting for podiums, but he had also obtained 10th or 12th places He was fickle

" "William has always had skills, but he's more structured now," Cros said He manages his energy better

He was pushed to his limits by not being chosen on the World Cup squad at the start of the season, but he managed to hang on and took advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves afterwards to demonstrate his potential » With only two races to go in the selections, which will end on Sunday, Dandjinou is now in an excellent position to secure his ticket to the last two World Cups of the season

Steven Dubois on the floor The selections do not go as planned for some headliners of the Canadian team Three-time Olympic medalist Steven Dubois had to retire before Friday's first races

Feverish, he skated a little on Wednesday, but he didn't have the energy to compete against the best Canadians “By not running him, we wanted to avoid mortgaging it more in anticipation of the next World Cup in two weeks, underlined the head coach of the Canadian team, Sébastien Cros

Given that he had been dominant during the first selection in Quebec in October and his very good performances in the World Cup in the fall, his score will allow him to be classified “Because we are not sure of the score in the cumulative classification, we did not take a chance and we requested a waiver, added Cros

He suffers from sinusitis and he will be recovered for the World Cup in Dresden Injury for jordan pierre-gilles For a second selection in a row, jordan pierre-gilles had bad luck

The skater from Sherbrooke injured his ankle again during the 1000m qualifications Pierre-Gilles enjoyed a bye to the first World Cup of the season in Montreal after suffering an injury at the Ice Centre

Only skaters who have obtained a Top 8 can take advantage of such a request “His case is less obvious than that of Steven, explained Cros

He did not obtain results in Quebec and at the end of the week All the other guys have made at least one World Cup final in the fall

There will be more discussions It is also possible to offer a conditional pass by establishing a date when he must be back to training one hundred percent

The good news is that the x-ray was negative and that Pierre-Gilles does not suffer from a fracture Brunelle retires On her return to competition, after skipping the fall season, Florence Brunelle withdrew after Friday's 500m quarter-final round

The doctor didn't want her to continue the competition Not suffering from any injury, Brunelle puts a lot of pressure on her shoulders

"It's not an abnormal process and I'm not worried," Cros said Depending on the individual, it is more or less easy to manage the pressure

We are trying to reduce it, but it is not possible to avoid it all the time “As an athlete, you are in the present moment and it is more difficult, to add Cros, but as a coach you look at the medium term and you manage a career and not three races

It's normal for an athlete to need a break on occasion as we saw with Kim [Boutin] before the pandemic She set her expectations too high