Olympic Gold Medalist Olivier Jean Wins Montreal Marathon, Morgane Echardour Scores Double Victories This Weekend

With the Trillium 10k and the Montreal Marathon held this past weekend, it was a busy weekend for Ontario & Quebec skaters.

All eyes were on Montreal’s Olivier Jean on Sunday morning in the Montreal Marathon, which was held in less-than-ideal conditions featuring rain, snow, wind, and cold.

Olivier Jean, 2010 Olympic Gold medalist in short track speed skating & 2006 Canadian Roller Speed Skating Champion, did not disappoint his fans, skating to a commanding victory- 45-seconds ahead of Steve Robillard & Peter Doucet. It was Doucet who on Saturday took the win in front of Jade Pauley in the Trillium 10k held in the rain in Mount Forest.

Jade Pauley, who finished 15th in Montreal, seemed poised to win in Mount Forest. However, a fall in a slippery wet corner early in the finishing sprint knocked him out of contention.

Peter Doucet leads Steve Robillard, Benoit Tremblay, and Olivier Jean- photo by Mô Ariba

On the women’s side, Morgane Echardour collected her second win of the weekend, following up on her victory in the rainy race in Mount Forest earlier on Saturday morning. Echardour won the Montreal Marathon- the second year in a row she wins this event- ahead of Sarah Hopkins, 2007 Pan American Games competitor. Hopkins, who now lives in Calgary and trains for long track speed skating is looking at competing at the 2010 Canadian Outdoor Speed Championships in Calgary in late-July.

The race started, and my start was good. I was in the pack in 10th position right in front of one of the CadoMotus skaters. There was a lot of people passing and attacking after a few minutes. I kept a good position in the pack until 7km’s into the race. I got out of the pack to have a look. I’m small, so I had no idea where I was going because all the skaters are taller than me. I could not get back into the same position, so I went in front of Sarah Hopkins because she let me in.

Montreal Marathon

Trillium 10k