Under the most intense pressure of her career to date, Canadian Ice Maple Courtney Sarault took a giant step towards securing her first ISU Crystal Globe on the opening day of the Odido Cup ISU Short Track World Tour #4 in Dordrecht, Netherlands. 

The 25-year-old arrived in one of the global meccas of Short Track Speed Skating knowing that any slip in the final event of the regular season could see her lead in the overall standings slip away. 

Corinne Stoddard of the USA Eagles has been chasing her North American rival all season and, true to form, the duo powered their way through a pair of high-class knockout rounds to face off in the 1000m final. Despite a desperate late lunge for the line, Sarault prevailed, leaving her in pole position to claim one of the biggest prizes in the sport on Sunday. 

Elsewhere, tears – of joy and despair – flowed in the Optisport Sportboulevard, as quota places for February’s Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games were claimed and lost. 

‘Follow your instincts’

First up, the race for the Crystal Globe, with Sarault and Stoddard shrugging off the challenges of world and Olympic champions to once more claim the spotlight. 

Sarault won the first two 1000m races of the World Tour season, part of a run of results that saw her start the day 80 points clear of her rival. Knowing she was in pole position and yet still had to perform to claim a crown many had already given her led the Canadian to a familiar place. 

“I was a little bit in my head yesterday and it’s been a while since I’ve been in my head like that, so I was just telling myself, ‘Don’t doubt yourself, follow your instincts, they’ve been getting you already so far’,” Sarault said.

The fact she managed to do just that in a final featuring two 1000m world champions in Belgian Ice Bear Hanne Desmet (2025) and Xandra Velzeboer (2023) of the Dutch Lions – not to mention Stoddard – was a huge plus for an athlete who just two seasons ago was questioning her place in the sport. 

Canadian Ice Maple Courtney Sarault (centre) crosses the 1000m finish line ahead of Corinne Stoddard (USA) and Hanne Desmet (BEL) Saturday in Dordrecht. © ISU

“I knew that all of us like to be in the front, so I decided to spend some energy to get myself there and hope for the best and try and control it from the front,” Sarault said.

She ignored the deafening noise to jump ahead of Velzeboer with four laps to go.

“I was talking with my coaches and some of the staff yesterday and they were really happy about this case scenario, actually, because it put a little more pressure on me and what I want to do. It was a really good build-up to the Games, to be used to that and see how I performed under that pressure.” 

For Stoddard, there was equal delight at having produced some of her best skating through the rounds – reigning ISU Crystal Globe champion Kristen Santos-Griswold and two-time Olympic 1500m gold medallist Choi Min Jeong failed to make it to the A Final — tinged with a slice of disappointment. 

“I was trying to position myself better than in the past, which I did. Probably should have been one position higher than I was, but overall I’m pretty happy with it. I caught up at the end of the race and hawked at the line. It wasn’t enough, but I think it was a really good race,” she said.

“And the times I was pulling in the quarterfinal, semifinal and the final were really fast, too. I’m feeling a lot more confident in my ability to perform under pressure. That was a problem for me last year, so knowing that I am doing better at it this year and I am doing good and I am not at my full peak yet, I am excited for February.” 

Corinne Stoddard of the USA Eagles trails Courtney Sarault by 80 points in the race for the Crystal Globe. © ISU

Before thoughts turn fully to the Olympic Games, Stoddard was not ruling out the chance of victory in Sunday’s 500m and 1500m – and a possible late run at the Crystal Globe. 

“We will see,” she said with a smile. “I was close today and that gives me confidence for tomorrow.” 

The duo go again starting at 13:35 local time, when the Canadian Ice Maples will attempt to add both the women’s and the team Crystal Globes to the men’s trophy secured Saturday by William Dandjinou.

'Olympics ... best moment ever'

Throughout Saturday, there were additional equations attached to just about every race, with skaters – and their families – working out whether they had done enough to secure the final coveted spots for the Olympic Games. The final calculations will be completed in the days following World Tour #4, with all places awarded to National Olympic Committees as opposed to named athletes. 

But amid the math, some things became clear, and nowhere was the agony and ecstasy of it all more prevalent than in the relays. 

“We saw team Poland and team Hungary crashing and we knew we were tied with them, and so we were just like, ‘OK, don’t crash, stay safe, just secure second spot’. We knew it was enough to go through,” a delirious Berenice Comby of the French Roosters said.

Their second-place finish in the B Final guaranteed her nation an Olympic spot in the 3000m relay. 

Berenice Comby and the French Roosters secured a spot for France in the 3000m relay at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in February. © ISU

“We could say, ‘Oh, we don’t look at the points’, but we had calculated every scenario possible and in the very, very last race of the season we get enough points. It’s incredible,” Comby said.

Teammate Cloe Ollivier laid it all on the line:

“The Olympics for any athlete is the best moment ever.” 

Few athletes know that better than Arianna Fontana. The Italian Gladiator has long been aiming to make the Milano Cortina Games the sixth Olympics of her career, and, after missing ISU World Tour #3 last week with injury, she quelled her fans’ fears by helping her team claim silver in the relay A Final. 

“It’s getting better. I am happy I am here racing. I am 70 per cent, I guess,” the 11-time Olympic medal winner said.

But Fontana also confirmed her dream of competing in both Short Track and Speed Skating at her home Games is almost certainly over. 

“I think so, unfortunately, we didn’t qualify for the team pursuit. With me we had a better time, but I don’t think we made it,” Fontana said. 

The last word on a frantic day went to Dutch Lion Zoe Deltrap, a 20-year-old local who grew up with big dreams, after she and her teammates secured relay gold ahead of Italy, with the USA in third. 

Xandra Velzeboer celebrates the Dutch Lions' 3000m relay win, ahead of the Italian Gladiators and USA Eagles. © ISU

“It’s amazing to skate here and then we win. It’s amazing,” Deltrap said.  “I was really happy to skate in front of my grandparents and my parents and all my cousins. Most of my family was here. There were many Deltraps.”