MONTREAL -- Charles Hamelin is confident that he wont stop at just one gold medal at the world short-track speedskating championships. Cheap Flames Jerseys . Three weeks after winning gold in the 1,500 metres at the Sochi Olympics, Hamelin did it again Friday as he cruised to the win in the opening event at the Maurice Richard Arena. The 1,500 used to be the weakest event for the Ste-Julie, Que., skater, but now he seems to own the distance as he easily finished ahead of Han Tianyu of China and bronze medallist Park Se Yeong of South Korea. Earlier this week, the 29-year-old Hamelin announced that he will continue to skate at least four more years until the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea. "In the 1,500 metres, every time I go on the podium now it proves that the work Ive done in the last four years has really paid off," he said. "Its proof that Im improving year after year. "Thats a big part of why I wanted to continue for four more years. You can see Im still strong. After a big event like Sochi, I was able to come back and refocus on what I need to do here. Im ready." Now he hopes to avoid the bad luck that followed his Olympic gold. In Sochi, he inexplicably fell in the heats of both the 500 and 1,000-metre events, dashing his hopes of sweeping the individual distances. He said the world championships are different because, instead of waiting a day or two between skates like at the Olympics, he will be back on the track Saturday for the 500 metres and the mens relay heats and again on Sunday for the 1,000, the 3,000, and, he hopes, the relay final. "Momentum is a big part of it and right now, its on my side," he said. "I had a great race and I know Im strong in the 500 and 1,000 metres." Hamelins goal is to win the overall title, which goes to the skater who does best cumulatively in the individual events. He has come second for that honour twice, but has never won it. He said the first rule is to avoid a disqualification in any race. The large crowd of mostly school children in the stands was worried that might happen when, halfway through the race, Hamelin nearly crashed into a South Korean. He managed to stay upright and then pass Han on the final lap to claim the win. Race officials did not call a foul. "He passed me on the outside and came back really quickly in front of me," said Hamelin. "He was one or two centimetres from hitting my blades. "It could have been a disaster for me, but I was able to control myself and not push too hard or lose too much speed. For him, the race was kind of over. It was a scary moment in the race." Hamelins biggest rival in recent years, five-time overall world champion Victor An of Russia, formerly known as Ahn Hyun-Soo of South Korea, never mounted a challenge and finished fourth. An won three golds and a bronze in Sochi. Wu Dajing of China was fifth ahead of South Koreans Lee Han-Bin and Sin Da Woon. Olivier Jean of Lachenaie, Que., and Charle Cournoyer of Boucherville, Que., were eliminated in the semifinals. South Korea swept the podium in the womens 1,500. Shim Suk Hee finished first ahead of Kim Alang and Park Seung-Hi. Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Que., was caught at the finish line by Park and settled for fourth. Marianne St-Gelais lost in the semifinals while Marie-Eve Drolet was beaten in the heats and was classified 22nd. Calgary Flames Shirts . The 26-year-old Redditch, England, native played three of his past four seasons under Rennie with the Carolina RailHawks of the North American Soccer League. Calgary Flames Store . He chirped to the caddie of Brandt Snedeker about their money game, a Mickelson tradition at the majors. Lefty was in good spirits Monday at the British Open, except for having to return the claret jug. https://www.cheapflames.com/ . -- Jake Paterson made 39 saves as the Saginaw Spirit halted the Guelph Storms seven-game win streak with a 6-3 victory on Sunday in Ontario Hockey League action.Romain Grosjean has expressed his amazement at Haass response to their first troubled F1 race weekend - and is tipping them to be back in points contention in Russia. The sports first American team in 30 years made a dream start to life in F1 with sixth and fifth place finishes in Australia and Bahrain respectively, but then suddenly struggled throughout the Chinese GP.Grosjean, who was involved in contact on the opening lap, finished 18th in Shanghai and team-mate Esteban Gutierrez fared little better in 14th place. However, with the teams disappointing performance having required deep analysis in the week that followed, Grosjean reckons they are now actually better placed to move forward.It was a very positive weekend for us [in retrospect] because we have done much more analysis after China than we did after Bahrain, he said on Thursday in Sochi.We could see real problems and understand why we were always on the back foot and understand why [the car] wasnt reacting to the next problems, and what we did right and wrong.Im quite amazed by the reaction back at the factory with everything which has been done and put in place for here. Im looking forward to getting back in the car and after a few laps [to see] were back where we want it to be. Then we can work from there. Natalie Pinkham is joined by former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley and former Williams Senior Operations Engineer Dominic Harlow to look ahead to Russia The Frenchman admits there were quite a lot of problems for the team to resolve after returning to base, with weekend-long tyre pressure problems in Shanghai having been made worse by our set-up and the way we ran the car. Flames Jerseys 2021. It was as well the way we reacted to problems, Grosjean explained. With disrupted sessions it was hard to catch up and the way we tried to catch up, and the direction we went, was sometimes not good and actually making the problems worse.So, all of that together, its nice to now see it as a big picture and know that if it happens again we can ask the questions in a different way and react differently.Nonetheless, Grosjeans impressive 18-point haul from the opening two rounds mean Haas remain fifth in the Constructors Championship and the recently-turned 30-year-old is optimistic they can make an immediate return to top-10 contention this weekend.Back in the points is possible if we get everything back to how we want it and back to how it was initially in the season, he added.Watch the whole Russian GP weekend - LIVE ONLY on Sky Sports F1. The race begins at 1pm on Sunday, with build-up from 11.30am. Or watch the race without a contract for £6.99 on NOW TV. Also See: When is the Russian GP on Sky? The F1 Gossip Column ' ' '