Kim Boutin

Kim Boutin
Boutin in 2017
Personal information
Born (1994-12-16) December 16, 1994
Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight 58 kg (128 lb)[1]
Sport
Country  Canada
Sport Short track speed skating
Club CPV Sherbrooke
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 500 m: 43.566 (2016)
1000 m: 1:29.372 (2016)
1500 m: 2:20.515 (2016)
3000 m: 5:04.760 (2015)
Medal record
Women's short track speed skating
Representing  Canada
Olympic Games
2018 Pyeongchang1000 m
2018 Pyeongchang500 m
2018 Pyeongchang1500 m
World Championships
2018 Montreal1500 m
2018 Montreal3000 m relay

Kim Boutin (French pronunciation: ​[butɛ̃]; born December 16, 1994) is a Canadian short track speed skater. Boutin won silver in the 1,000 m and bronze in the 500 m and 1,500 m events at the 2018 Winter Olympics at Pyeonchang, Korea. She was the first Canadian female short track speed skater to win three individual Olympic medals in a single Olympics and the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic medal in the 1,500 m.[2] As a result of her three medal performance she was named the flag bearer for Canada at the closing ceremonies for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Boutin has also won junior world championship and World Cup medals.[3][4]

Career

2018 Winter Olympics

Boutin participated as part of Canada's team at the 2018 Winter Olympics.[5][6] She came in 4th in the Women's 500 m, but following the judge's disqualification of South Korean Choi Min-jeong who finished 2nd in a photo finish, Boutin was awarded the bronze. Reports initially suggested the disqualification was due to contact with race winner Arianna Fontana, but were later stated to be due to an earlier contact with Boutin.[7] The following day, it was announced that Boutin had been receiving negative comments from South Koreans, including reports of death threats.[8] The Canadian Olympic Committee took the threats very seriously and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were investigating the incidents. It was an emotional and painful experience for the skater and, upon receiving her medal, she was photographed in tears. She said later of it all that "it was pretty tough. I'm a sensitive person."[9]

Boutin started in the 1,500 m heats with the threats still looming over her. She said that "of course, it scared me, and just after my warm-up, I cried. I cried a lot, because I was scared. But I have a pretty awesome team behind me." She would put that fear behind her in the final of the 1,500 m when she skated out in front and led the pack until the second last lap when she was passed by Choi, but hung on for the bronze medal.[10][11][9] This was her second individual medal of the games and made her the first female Canadian short track speed skater to win two individual medals in a single Olympics.[9] Boutin would go on to win silver in the 1,000m race a few days later, earning a medal in all three individual distances.[12] The Canadian team made the relay finals but after being tripped up by the Korean team and the chaos that followed the Canadian women finished off the Olympic relay podium for the first time ever. As a result of her three individual short track medals, the first time ever by a Canadian female short track speed skater, Boutin was named the flag bearer for the closing ceremonies.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Canadian Olympic Committee profile". Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  2. ↑ Pete Evans (February 17, 2018). "Samuel Girard becomes Canada's 1st Olympic champion in 1,000m short track".
  3. ↑ "Speed Skating Canada profile". Speed Skating Canada. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  4. ↑ "ISU Profile". International Skating Union. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  5. ↑ Nichols, Paula (30 August 2017). "10 short track speed skaters nominated to Team Canada for PyeongChang 2018". www.olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  6. ↑ "Gold medallist Hamelin to lead Canada's 2018 short-track team". www.sportsnet.ca/. Sportsnet. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  7. ↑ Hyun-woo, Nam (14 February 2018). "What happened during Choi's disqualification?". The Korea Times.
  8. ↑ Carroll, Charlotte (14 February 2018). "Canadian Speedskater Kim Boutin Receives Death Threats". Sports Illustrated.
  9. 1 2 3 "Samuel Girard, Kim Boutin prove Canadian short track's next generation has arrived". CBC Sports. February 17, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Short track, Feb. 17: women's 1500m final, men's 1000m final". CBC. 17 February 2018.
  11. ↑ "Olympics-Short Track-Women's 1500m finals results". Reuters. 17 February 2018.
  12. ↑ https://www.thestar.com/sports/olympics/2018/02/22/canadas-kim-boutin-takes-silver-in-womens-1000m-short-track-speedskating.html
  13. ↑ "Kim Boutin named Canada's flag-bearer for closing ceremony". CBC Sports. February 24, 2018.
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