Canada Olympic Speedskating 2018: Latest Team Results and Medal Winners

Canada won its first speedskating medal of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics as Kim Boutin took the bronze medal in the 500-meter short-track event Wednesday morning (North American time).

Italy's Arianna Fontana and South Korea's Minjeong Choi were involved in a photo finish for first place in the event, but judges determined that Choi had impeded Fontana, and the South Korean skater was disqualified.

That ruling put Boutin on the medal stand, because she had crossed the finish line in fourth place, giving Canada the bronze medal.

Yara van Kerkhof of the Netherlands had crossed the finish line in third place, but she was awarded the silver medal.

Canadian Marianne St-Gelais had been one of the favorites in the 500-meter event, but she was disqualified in an earlier heat. She was disappointed by that result.

"I wasn't ready for that call," St-Gelais said after the race, per Pete Evans of CBC Sports. "I don't think I deserved it, but that's short track."

Jens Meyer/Associated Press

Canadian men made progress in their pursuit of short-track medals, as Charles Hamelin won his heat in the 1,000-meter race in an Olympic-record time of 1 minute, 23.407 seconds. Hamelin advanced to the quarterfinals of the event with his performance, so he still has a long way to go before winning a medal in the event.

Samuel Girard also advanced for Canada, as he finished second in his heat. However, Charle Cournoyer was not able to move on after he finished third in a photo finish in his heat.

Hamelin, Girard and Cournoyer teamed with Pascal Dion in the 5,000-meter relay, and the Canadian team advanced to the finals of that event, which will be held later this week.

While Canadians performed well in short-track speedskating, they did not fare as well on the long track.

Denny Morrison, a four-time Olympian who has had injury and major illness problems in recent years, finished 13th in the 1,500-meter final. While Morrison was not close to getting on the medal stand, he was far better than teammates Vincent de Haitre and Benjamin Donnelly, who finished 21st and 31st, respectively.

Morrison returned after suffering through a life-threatening motorcycle accident in 2015 and a stroke in 2016.