The women’s 500m short track qualifying round began on a good note for Canada as all three skaters qualified for their quarterfinal races on Saturday night.
Marianne St. Gelais of St. Felicien, Que., was the first Canadian to qualify, winning her heat in a time of 44.708 seconds.
Edmonton’s Jessica Gregg who also qualified, had the most intense heat of the night as Lee Eun-Byul of South Korea sprinted past her at the finish line and won the heat. Lee came in at 44.000 seconds with Gregg right behind her at 44.009.
Quebec native Kalyna Roberge, rounded off the Canadian qualifications as she placed second in her heat with a time of 44.254 seconds.
Defending Olympic champion Meng Weng set an Olympic record in her heat with a time of 43.926 seconds, proving why she is favoured to win the gold.
The quarterfinals are set to take place on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET.
Canada qualifies for relay medal race
Canada’s 3,000m-relay team qualified Saturday for the finals while China set an Olympic record at the event.
First, it was the Korean team that broke the Olympic record in the first heat with a time of 4:10.753 but China skated right after to crush the record in the following race, posting a time of 4:08.797.
The Canadian team comprised of Gregg, Roberge, St. Gelais, and Tania Vicent finished second behind China with a time of 4:11.476 and advanced to the medal race.
The medal showdown is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Feb. 24, as Canada, United States, China, and Korea will battle for the gold.