Speed skater Kim Boutin raced to her first world championship gold medal in the women’s 500-metre event at the ISU world short track championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Saturday. The Sherbrooke, Que., native led the five-athlete final from start to finish, clocking 42.626 seconds for the victory. Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands, the two-time defending champion in the event, took silver in 42.833 and Kristen Santos-Griswold of the United States claimed bronze in 42.929. Velzeboer edged Boutin in the 2022 world championships in Montreal, which was the only other 500 medal the 29-year-old Boutin has received at the worlds.Read more