Canada’s Steven Dubois had ‘nothing to lose’ in sprint for second short-track medal

Opinion

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This article was published 13/02/2022 (1331 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEIJING Steven Dubois has a bit of the bantam rooster about him.

Sticks his narrow chest out, sways back and forth on his toes in front of a microphone, pecks thoughtfully at questions.

And, after earning bronze Sunday night in the wickedly fast and furious 500-metre race, a companion piece to an earlier 1,500-metre silver, he is walking taller with a lot more to crow about.

While the women’s 3,000-metre relay team came a cropper at the Capital Indoor Stadium — four nations were in the A final and only Canada was unable to close out a medal — Dubois once again grabbed his deflated team by the scruff of the neck and gave them something to feel chuffed about.

And we really must stop referring to the 24-year-old from Terrebone, Que., as the “least likely” to cop hardware from among a boldface platoon of Canadian short-trackers — though he certainly had been in his Wednesday podium finish. The 1,500 is not remotely Dubois’s strong suit.

The 500, though, that’s right in his wheelhouse. His first individual gold on the World Cup circuit a couple of seasons ago came in the 500. It’s a race that makes his heart go boom-boom-boom, four-and-a-half laps around the track.

“I knew I was strong and I know I am strong, maybe a bit more now,” Dubois said Sunday. “In training I’ve always been performing super-good.”

He trains with the likes of Pascal Dion, ranked No. 1 this season in the 1,000, and Charles Hamelin, the short-track luminary with a gazillion medals. So he knows what winning looks like, how to animate the role.

“We’re always competing together, so we know we’re strong, we know we can do good things,” said Dubois, who’ll be with them in the 5,000-metre complement that closes out the Olympic short-track program Wednesday.

Strong, sure, but Dubois hasn’t been around the national A team for as long as the others — he was an alternate on the Pyeongchang crew and never actually went to South Korea. “I was confident but knowing that I’ve never really performed on a big stage, it’s a bit hard to set up expectations like, ‘Oh, I’m going to win three medals.’ I know I want to. I know I can. But saying I’m gonna is harder for me.”

This particular 500 was less chaotic than most of the short-track races in Beijing, where it’s never over until the referee puts his tablet away and survivors can breathe easy that they haven’t been penalized for an assortment of infractions.

Nevertheless, the final was not as anticipated, with the top three 500 men not making it through. No. 1 ranked Shaolin Sándor Liu of Hungary and No. 3 Ren Ziwei of China were eliminated in the quarterfinals, and China’s Wu Dajing, the Pyeongchang gold medallist, was beaten in the semifinal.

That left five men standing: Dubois, Shaoang Liu (Shaolin’s brother), Konstantin Ivliev from the Russian Olympic Committee, Kazakhstan’s Abzal Azhgaliyev and Italy’s Pietro Sighel. Dubois had finished second in his quarterfinal heat, then was advanced to the final after South Korean skater Hwang Dae-heon was penalized for trying to make a late pass, causing contact.

In the final, Dubois had an explosive start but was pretty much sitting third throughout.

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“Usually in the 500 I’m always in the front. I have definitely one of the best starts in the world, if not the best. So I skate from the front, do good times and hopefully I can keep the first position off the start through the next round. It didn’t happen today.

“Still made it through a couple of passes and then I had to block. I was in third or fourth, I knew I had to pass at least one guy to get on the podium. I had nothing to lose. Either I go home with a medal or I don’t.

“So I went inside on the first straight and it was a mind game between me and the guy from Kazakhstan. I decided to go all the way. He decided to be patient and let me pass, so he could maybe attack another time. It didn’t happen for him.”

He crossed in 40.669 seconds, behind Liu and Ivliev.

Rosie DiManno is a Toronto-based columnist covering sports and current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @rdimanno