The event sees both men and women compete together over 2,000 metres and has been approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for inclusion at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.

Canada's Girard, who won the 1,000m title at Pyeongchang 2018 in February, is a fan of the discipline.

"I think it shows to other sports that we can have mixed gender in every sport," he said. 

"Since the beginning of short track it has always been men and women separated but now we have the mixed and it's worked really well so I think that other sports have to focus on that too because it's really fun to do. 

"It's not to compare with only the boys or only the girls – we have to work together and that's really nice."

Gender equality is a big goal for the IOC at future Olympic Games.

Girard's team-mate Kim Boutin, a three-time medallist in Pyeongchang, has also backed the format.

"It helps us to challenge ourselves to be pushed by a guy and it's good for the synergy of the group," she said.

"It's always going to be a hard race to win because in many countries there are two strong girls and guys so it makes it really interesting and hard to do something great in.

"There are already some other mixed events in the [Olympic] Games and it's obviously what the people want to see."