Canadian short-track speed skaters aim to balance life on and off the ice

Courtney Sarault is coming off of a crazy year.

The Canadian short-track speedskater knew that pursuing her dream of winning Olympic medals would be all encompassing.

"There wasn't really much life outside of speedskating, which was fine because it's my passion and it's something that I love and it's a goal of mine to be really good in the Olympic year," she said.

The dedication paid off with Sarault winning four medals — two silver and two bronze — at the Milan Cortina Olympics in February. She also captured a Crystal Globe on the World Cup circuit as the best overall female speedskater of the season.

Now Sarault and her Canadian teammates are resetting as a new four-year Olympic cycle begins with the ISU Short Track World Tour.

The seven-city competition begins in Vancouver, with more than 215 athletes from 29 countries racing around the frozen track Friday through Sunday. The Montreal portion takes place Oct. 30 through Nov. 1.

The Vancouver stop marks the first time Pacific Coliseum has hosted short-track speedskating since the 2010 Olympics.

Those Games were "iconic," Sarault said.

"Those Olympics were the ones that opened my eyes a lot as a young athlete in short-track speedskating," she said. "So being able to come back, maybe all it takes is one competition or one little thing to kind of spark someone's interest in the sport."

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The 26-year-old from Moncton, N.B., is one of 12 Canadians competing in Vancouver this weekend, and she said her benchmarks for success are different heading into the first year of a new Olympic cycle.

"I don't expect to be winning races right now," Sarault said. "I want to be in the race, I want to be challenging, and I