On the last day of competition, only the top 16 skaters are invited to compete in the medal rounds of the 3000m race. The entire Quebec team, five men and five women, qualified for the 27-lap honour.

The other six contenders brought Alberta, Ontario and the Northwest Territories to the coveted start line.

Quebec’s golden girl Marianne St-Gelais won the women’s 3000m handily. In the process, she chopped an amazing 33 seconds off the previous Canada Games record. By the time she and her team-mates clinched top place in the women’s relay, St-Gelais had garnered a medal in every distance she skated, for a total of four golds and one silver. She also toppled another games record in the 500m sprint.

In the opening minute of the men’s 3000m final, Quebec’s Guillaume Blais-Dufour burst ahead by a whole lap, to then draft behind his seven rivals. He risked shooting his wad too soon; but the gamble paid off and not even Ontario’s star, Nicolas Bean, could catch him.

Blais-Dufour wrapped the short track meet with three golds, two silvers, and two Canada Games records. Bean was next in line with two golds, two silvers, and a bronze. Ontario’s Ivanie Blondin deserves kudos as well with one gold, two silvers, and a new record in the 1500m distance.

Altogether, Quebec claimed both golds in the team relay and 16 of 24 individual medals.

Thanks to good ice and the lightning pace set by the Quebec women’s team, 23 of the meet’s 55 female competitors can go home boasting – at least one of their times surpassed a previous Canada Games milestone.