Moose Jaw's Gabrielle Sanson was faced with a decision, she could represent her province at the 2019 Canada Winter Games or her country at the 2019 World Junior Speed Skating Championship.

Sanson chose to wear the red-and-white for the second time her career as she will head to Italy next month to compete for Canada at the World Juniors.

"I'm definitely excited, the first time around gave me the experience that I needed to calm those nerves from being on the international stage and so this time, I know a little more and have a better shot at those medals," said Sanson.

Sanson has been training with the national team in Calgary and is hoping that her hard work and more experience are the right recipes for a medal performance in Italy.

She earned her spot on the Canadian Long Track Speed Skating team after securing a silver medal in the 500-metre at the national championship earlier this month. She also finished fourth in the 1,000m and fifth in both the 1,500m and 3,000m.

The Moose Jaw speed skater competed at the World Juniors in 2016 but missed out on the event over the past two years due to injuries.

Sanson said she's back to 100-percent and ready to challenge the best in the world, "It's been a challenge to overcome those injuries," she said. "It's been very motivating to keep my results up.

"I didn't even realize that my hip was out all last year, it made all the difference this year, my times have been so much better and I've had confidence going into races knowing that I'm very prepared and nothing hurts."

Sanson gave up her spot on the Saskatchewan Long Track team, which will be attending the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer during the same time as the World Juniors.

Sanson said that winning a silver medal at the Canada Winter Games in 2015 is what helped propel her to her spot on the national team and she wants another young skater to have that opportunity.

"I wanted an upcoming skater to have her opportunity to go to Canada Winter Games and already experience what I've experienced and hopefully give her the confidence that she needs moving forward in the sport," she said.

"Canada Games gave me the confidence that I needed in the sport and I was definitely on the younger side when I won my medal, so it just gave me all the confidence in what I could achieve in the future."

The World Junior Speed Skating Championship will be held in Besalga di Pinè, Italy from Feb. 15-17.