Roussel, Brunelle win men's, women's national short track speedskating titles

Félix Roussel closed his case as the men's Canadian short track speedskating champion on Saturday with his fourth gold and second silver of the competition.

The Sherbrooke, Que., native started the day off by capturing his second 500-metre gold of the national championships, beating out Jordan Pierre-Gilles, also from Sherbrooke, and Montreal's William Dandjinou, who placed second and third, respectively. 

The 25-year-old Roussel later took silver in the 1000, behind Dandjinou and ahead of Mathieu Pelletier of Laval, Que., but had already earned enough points for the result to not matter.

"I knew I had the overall title in the bag last night before bed, but it's nice that it's now official," Roussel said. "It feels good to be rewarded for all the hard work I've put in. I'm proud of my performances this weekend; I definitely didn't think I would be this dominant. It was a long day today, but I found the legs when I had to, and everything ended up working out."

On the women's side, Florence Brunelle claimed the title of national short track champion with three gold, two silver and one bronze. 

The Trois-Rivières, Que., native earned silver in the second 500 behind Moncton's Courtney Sarault before closing the day with gold in the second 1000 ahead of Sherbrooke's Ann-Sophie Bachand and Sarault.

Those results helped Brunelle conclude the competition with 19,000 points in her top four distances, edging out Danaé Blais of Châteauguay, Que., who collected 16,200 points. Brunelle took the national title from Sarault, who went a perfect 9-for-9 at last season’s competition.

"I'm emotional because I've been searching this sense of lucidity in my racing for a while now," Brunelle said. "To be conscious of what it going on, not be afraid of having sore legs, and to keep pushing no matter what.

"The attitude that I had during my races is something that I'm really proud of. I'm very happy to have finished the weekend off with this title."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2026.

Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.