By The Canadian Press

Dandjinou headlines Canada’s short track speedskating team for Milan Cortina Olympics

Dec 17, 2025 | 11:01 AM

MONTREAL — William Dandjinou didn’t flinch when short track coach Marc Gagnon set high expectations to open the season.

Gagnon said Canada is aiming for a record haul of seven Olympic medals at this winter’s Milan Cortina Games – and Dandjinou believes that’s more than within his team’s grasp.

“It’s not like a track race, it’s always hard to set clear goals,” said Dandjinou of the oft-unpredictable sport. “But at worlds last season we won 10 medals, so seven for me, it’s really doable. It’s not impossible.

“It’s going to be difficult, for sure. At the Olympics, everyone is getting better. We don’t expect it to be easy, but we’re here for that.”

Dandjinou and fellow Crystal Globe winner Courtney Sarault will lead Canada’s powerhouse short-track speedskating team into Milan.

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The Canadian Olympic Committee and Speed Skating Canada announced the 10 athletes who will represent the country at the Winter Games in February on Wednesday at a downtown Montreal event.

The Canadian team – which won the overall Crystal Globe the past two seasons – is in position to reach Gagnon’s goal after qualifying for the maximum of 21 Olympic quota spots: three skaters in each individual discipline, along with the men’s, women’s and mixed relays.

“We are really proud to have accomplished it, but secondly, it also shows to the whole team that as a team, we’re an extremely strong team,” said Gagnon, a five-time Olympic medallist. “We have the right to have high goals and we work the right way, because our first goal was that one.

“We haven’t done that as often as you’d think in short track, to have all the spots.”

Gagnon won three medals, including two gold, as part of Canada’s record six at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, and Sarault says the 2026 team is keen to set a new mark.

“I don’t see it as pressure. I just see it as he sees potential in us,” she said of Gagnon’s expectations. “I see it as something that we should go for, not something that’s mandatory or something that we have to do. I see it as a little slap in the back, like ‘Let’s go guys.’

“If anything I want to beat it too. Let’s see – I want to be a part of something special, and that team back then was so special, so strong. I would like to be known as that team that’s that strong and that special too.”

The team also features four-time Olympic medallist Kim Boutin, heading to her third Games, and Steven Dubois, who won three medals in his Olympic debut at Beijing 2022.

Dandjinou, a five-time world championship medallist and rising star from Montreal, will compete at his first Olympics along with fellow men’s skaters Dubois (Terrebonne, Que.), Félix Roussel (Sherbrooke, Que.), Maxime Laoun (Montreal) and Jordan Pierre-Gilles (Sherbrooke).

Sarault (Moncton, N.B.) and Boutin (Sherbrooke) lead a women’s contingent that also includes Florence Brunelle (Trois-Rivières, Que.), Danaé Blais (Châteauguay, Que.) and Rikki Doak (Fredericton).

Dandjinou, 24, won seven gold medals and one silver on the ISU World Tour this fall to repeat as the Crystal Globe winner.

The 25-year-old Sarault, meanwhile, broke out with five gold, three silver and one bronze to become the first Canadian woman to win the Crystal Globe.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2025.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press