It's no secret that when it comes to short track speed skating, Quebec skaters are the best in the business.
At the World Cup and Olympic levels, Canada continually ranks among the world leaders in short track, and most of those skaters wearing the maple leaf are from La Belle Province.
In our Olympic history, Canadian short track athletes have stepped on the podium 80 times. All but four women and two men who earned medals were from Quebec.
Quebec sent 12 junior-aged skaters to the Canadian age class national championships, which wrapped up Sunday at Kin 1 and won 20 medals in the 500 m, 1,000 m and 1,500 m events. Quebec is a powerhouse simply because of the sheer number of skaters. Quebec has 49 short track clubs, the most in Canada, followed by Ontario (28), B.C. (27) and Alberta 13). In Montreal alone there are 27 clubs. With so many more athletes to choose from, Quebec teams are traditionally strong at national events like the age class finals in Prince George
"The biggest difference, for sure, is how many skaters we have," said Quebec coach Erika Huszar. "We are lucky, we have a better chance to work with talented skaters, but we are working hard also to make it better and we try to share our experiences with the other coaches and help each other to help develop Canadian short track speed skating."
Quebec skaters stand out from the rest of the crowd in the way they make their passes. They tend to pass on the inside where there's often very little room but somehow manage to get to the front without running interference. Huszar said that is a product of skaters continually practicing in traffic against athletes equal in ability.
The age class meet was a test event for next year's Canada Winter Games in Prince George. While only five women and five men between the ages of 14 and 19 can qualify for the Games from each province and territory, Huszar says all 12 of the athletes Quebec sent to Prince George will benefit from the experience.
"It's a big for them because most of the time in finals they have to skate with other Quebec skaters," said Huszar. "It's really important for them to come to the other side of the country to skate with other skaters from other provinces who they never skate with. We try to build a team to help each other but in the finals they have to fight for themselves. We don't want to come here just to do a Quebec competition and it's good to see other skaters from other provinces doing better and better."
