'I will be Olympic champion': Canadian skate star Dandjinou vows to atone for 2nd disappointing result
CBC
Chris Jones reports from Milan.
It has been a crushing 48 hours for William Dandjinou.
Canada’s towering 24-year-old short track star, a world champion and multiple-medal hopeful at these Winter Olympics, failed to reach the podium in his second straight final, finishing fifth in his signature race on Saturday, the 1,500 metres.
He finished fourth in the 1,000 metres on Thursday. Jens van ’t Wout of the Netherlands won gold in both, enjoying twin victories that Dandjinou was meant to savour.
The Canadian shed no tears after. He wasn’t inconsolable, or anything like it.
He was radiating anger, like a man intent on revenge.
“I only have one thing to say: One day I will be Olympic champion,” he said. “Mark my words.”
And then he walked out into what will no doubt be a very long night.
It had started so well. He’d advanced easily through the quarter and semifinals, along with teammate Steven Dubois, the defending silver medallist.
He looked calm, measured, confident. In each of his first two races, Dandjinou took early leads, the first to put two hands behind his back and settle into his long, smooth strides. He looked like the favourite he was.
The crowded final, which included nine skaters because of penalty advancements, started much the same.
A rotation of skaters took the lead, and van ’t Wout set the early pace — knowing that Dandjinou is at his most dangerous in front — but the Canadian was always there, pressing, calculating.
Dubois fell early after trying to make a move from near the back of the pack. “The ice just broke,” he said after. “The conditions are hard. It’s not an excuse, but when you really have to take some risks, it makes a difference.”
With three laps to go, Dandjinou took his own, attempting a pass. He was blocked by Korea’s Dong Min Shin, lost his rhythm, and never managed to recover his momentum. That small bump, like his single costly slip in the 1,000-metre final on Thursday, stole four years of hard work and hope from him in an instant.
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