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Born | Lévis, Quebec, Canada | April 14, 1984||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 71 kg (157 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Country | Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Short track speed skating | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Les Fines Lames de Ste-Julie | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal best(s) | 500 m: 40.091 (2016) 1000 m: 1:21.961 (2012) 1500 m: 2:09.098 (2011) 3000 m: 4:38.905 (2002) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Charles Hamelin OLY (born April 14, 1984) is a Canadian retired short track speed skater. In a competitive career that spanned nearly twenty years on the international circuit, Hamelin participated in five Winter Olympic Games (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022) and won six Olympic medals, including a national-best four gold medals. [1] Competing in all distances, he won thirty-eight medals at the World Championships, including fourteen gold medals, and also led Canada to five world relay titles. Hamelin was also the 2014 Overall World Cup season winner and the 2018 Overall World Champion, giving him all the achievements available in the sport.
Hamelin's early success at the 2003 World Junior Championships saw him win silver medals in the 500 m and the 1500 m races and a bronze in the 5000 m relay. After debuting on the senior level, he won two medals at the 2005 World Championships, including his first World gold in the 5000 m relay. In his first Olympics, he finished in fourth place in the 1500 m and won a silver medal as part of the Canadian relay team. He won his first two Olympic gold medals on home ice in Vancouver before picking up two more, the last in his final Olympic appearance in Beijing. Hamelin is the former world record holder in the 1000 m. [2] Dubbed the "Locomotive de Sainte-Julie", Hamelin is widely considered one of Canada's finest athletes. [3] [4]
Hamelin made his debut at the world junior championships in 2002, finishing fourth in the 500 m and helping the relay team to a silver medal. During the next World Junior Championships in 2003, he had his breakout year, finishing second in the 500 m, second in the 1500 m, fourth in the 1000 m, fifth in the super 1500 m, and then helping the relay team to a bronze in the 5000 m relay. Because of his accomplishments in 2003, he finished fourth overall at the world junior championships. He was seemingly following the footsteps of a long line of accomplished French-Canadian short track speedskaters like Marc Gagnon and Éric Bédard.
Hamelin made his World Cup debut in the 2003–2004 season. His main role on the team at that time was on the relay team, which finished the season second overall. Going into the 2004 World Championships, the Canadian men's relay team was considered one of the favourites but only managed a fourth-place finish.
The 2004–2005 season was a breakout year for Hamelin. This was the first year that he skated every event in the World Cup. He finished third overall in the 500 m, fourth in the 1000 m, fifth in the 1500 m, and fifth overall on the season. He continued to skate on the relay team, which finished first in the final standings. The biggest success of his season would come at the 2005 World Championships, where he managed a silver in the 500 m and two fourth-place finishes in the 1000 m and 3000 m. This allowed him to finish fourth overall in the standings. [5] That year he was also a part of the gold medal-winning Canadian squad at the World Team Championships. [6]
After making his first Canadian Olympic team for the 2006 Winter Olympics, Hamelin managed to qualify for the finals of the 1500 m. In the last lap and a half, he was comfortably in third place before being passed by two Chinese skaters. Although one of the Chinese skaters was disqualified, he still only finished a disappointing fourth. In the relay, the Canadian and Korean teams traded the lead back and forth throughout the race, but the Canadians lost the lead on the last turn but still managed to win silver. The silver medal on the relay was the first Olympic medal in his career. [7]
Following the 2006 Olympics, Hamelin won the gold medal in the 3000 m at the 2006 World Championships. [8] Hamelin would go on to become the 500 m world champion in 2007, over the next three years this would soon be his strongest event. [8] In addition to his 500 m gold, at the 2007 Worlds, he took silvers in the 1000 m and 5000 m relay as well as the overall silver medal. He also took a second gold at the World Team Championships that year. He captured silvers in the 500 m at the worlds and the World Team Championships in 2008, and in 2009, he once again became the 500 m world champion, alongside clinching bronzes in the 3000 m and the overall competition and another World Team silver. [6]
With the 2010 Winter Olympics taking place in Vancouver, expectations on the Canadian side were high. Hamelin was a medal favourite in the 500, 1000, 1500, and 5000-metre relay. [9] Going into the Olympics, he was the reigning 500 m world champion and reigning World Cup champion. [8] As such Hamelin was the gold medal favourite going into the 2010 Games in his home country. [8]
He began the Vancouver Olympics in the second 1500 m heat, where Hamelin placed second by 0.001 of a second to China's Liang Wenhao.[ citation needed ] As he only placed second in the heats, Hamelin was drawn into a tough group for the semi-finals, needing to beat one of his two main rivals, Lee Jung-Su or Apolo Ohno, to qualify for the final. Hamelin was in second for much of the race, with Jung-Su in the lead, but on the last lap was passed by Ohno and finished third. Only the top two qualified for the A-Final, and Hamelin was thus relegated to the B-Final, where he finished in first place. When asked about the race, Hamelin said, "it was a really tough field, and I'm not disappointed with the races I had...I'll sleep well tonight". [10]
During the 1000 m heats, Hamelin placed first, the result duplicating into the quarterfinals. In the semi-finals, Hamelin placed second behind Apolo Ohno and was nearly pushed by Korea's Sung Si-Bak, who trailed him by 0.006 seconds and avoided a disqualification. The final race, which held five skaters, included his younger brother. For three-quarters of the race, he stood in first position in front of François Hamelin and Apolo Ohno, only to be surpassed by Korea's Lee Ho-Suk in the sixth lap. Hamelin fell into third on the following lap, unable to sustain the high speeds much longer. The final lap saw Ohno move to third, leaving Charles and François in fourth and fifth, respectively. [11] During the race the crowd at the Pacific Coliseum was cheering so loudly during the 1,000 m final that Hamelin felt an overwhelming sense of pride like never before, calling it "amazing." Despite the crowd support, Hamelin remained disappointed as he had gone to the Olympics with a mind to win multiple medals. [12]
Next up for Hamelin was his best and most promising event, the 500 m race, Hamelin took the gold medal, with teammate François-Louis Tremblay winning the bronze. It was a close race as the world record holder, Korea's Sung Si-Bak, was in the lead until a slip in the final corner, which allowed Hamelin to pass to finish first. The same night, the Canadian team won the gold in the 5000 m relay. Hamelin shared that gold with his brother François, as well as Tremblay, Olivier Jean and Guillaume Bastille. [13] Of his final and relieving success on the last day of short track at the Olympics, Hamelin said that "they will be going crazy in Quebec, they will be going crazy in Montreal, party all night. I got two gold medals in 30 minutes, and it's incredible." [14]
Following the Vancouver Olympics, Hamelin attended the 2010 World Championships but failed to medal in any event. He won a silver at the 2010 World Team Championships.
Before going into the 2010–11 season, Hamelin said he was using the year to focus on new techniques for 2014 Winter Olympics while not worrying about winning as much during the current season. Hamelin said, "my goal is to try new strategies to make myself more dangerous for 2014...Now it's not to win medals, but to work on things that are difficult mentally – to put myself in situations where I'm not always in control so that even if I'm last, I won't panic and do stupid things." [15] Hamelin was mostly focusing on trying to medal in the longer distances, though he had been dominant in the 500 m the South Koreans continued to own the longer distances, something Hamelin hoped to change. Despite a quiet year on the World Cup, Hamelin finished the 2011 World Championships with a gold in the relay and three silvers, including a second-place overall finish, making progress in his preseason goals. [16]
Hamelin put up decent results through the 2012 season despite several nagging injuries and carried that success into the World Championships. There he won a silver medal in the 500 m trailing teammate Jean who won the gold. He went on to win the bronze in the 1,000 m after being pushed by a Chinese skater. Hamelin was injured in the fall and did not compete in the men's relay final, but he still won gold for his earlier participation in the semi-final. [17]
As part of his third Canadian Olympic team for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Hamelin reached the final of the 1500m while his brother made the B final of the same event. He started the race, pushed to the front of the seven-man pack, and retained that lead for most of the race. Towards the end of the race, Hamelin's lead was challenged by both China's Han Tianyu and Russia's Viktor Ahn, but Hamelin passed Han and held on to win the gold medal as Canada's second gold medal of the Sochi Olympics. The 1,500 m was often identified as a weakness for Hamelin and the Canadians. He was proud of the gold in the event, saying, "it is the best I can dream of, coming in the Olympics and having that gold in the 1,500-metre. We always said in the last few years that it was our weakness, but I really worked hard to prove everyone wrong, and I think today was the day." [18] He had a strong overall season. and won his first overall World Cup title after coming close several times previously.
In August 2017, Hamelin was named to Canada's 2018 Winter Olympics team, his fourth. [19] [20] The individual events in Pyeongchang proved a disappointment for Hamelin, as penalties knocked him out of the 500 and 1000 m in the early rounds, and he also took a penalty in the 1500 m final. He concluded the Games in the 5000 m relay, where the Canadian team won bronze, his fifth Olympic medal. [3]
He rebounded from the disappointing Olympics to win his first ever World Championship overall title, taking gold in the 1000 m and 1500 m events and silver in the men's relay on home ice in Montreal, after several near misses previously. He was the first Canadian man since Marc Gagnon twenty years earlier to win the Overall World Championship. [21] Hamelin had been widely expected to retire following the 2017–18 season but surprised many by announcing that he intended to continue for at least another year. [3]
Having postponed his presumed retirement for a year, Hamelin announced in 2019 that he would continue to the 2022 Winter Olympics. His decision was influenced by the unexpected retirement of Samuel Girard after the 2018–19 season, as Girard, a gold medalist in Pyeongchang and part of the bronze medal-winning relay team had been widely seen as Hamelin's heir. [22] [3]
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of many events in the second half of the quadrennial and greatly complicated Hamelin's training. While missing almost a year of on-ice training, they improvised other methods to stay in form while largely training separately. In his return to major international championships, he took the gold medal in the 1500 m at the 2021 World Championships in Dordrecht. [23]
In January 2022, Hamelin was named to his fifth and final Olympic team. [24] [25] [26] As well, Hamelin along with hockey player Marie-Philip Poulin were named as Canada's flagbearers during the opening ceremony. [27] [28] Hamelin competed in only one individual event in Beijing, that being the 1500 m, in which he was the reigning world champion. He was disqualified for an illegal lane change in the semi-final, while teammate Steven Dubois won the silver medal. [29] The final Olympic event of Hamelin's career was to be the 5000 m relay event, where the Canadian team would win the gold medal. This was Hamelin's fourth gold and sixth medal, the former tying a record set by women's hockey players Jayna Hefford, Caroline Ouellette, and Hayley Wickenheiser for the most gold medals for a Canadian Olympian. [30] [31] [32] [33] He said afterward that it "was a difficult decision to continue training over the past four years for my fifth Olympics, but I believed in myself. It was a challenge to keep myself competitive against the world, but I did it." [23] He considered it the finest win of his career. [3]
Following the Olympics, the 2022 World Championships, held in Montreal, were expected to be the final event of Hamelin's competitive career. He focused on the relay event, saying, "hopefully, we'll come back with the gold medal like we did at the Olympics. I love what I do, and that's the reason why I'm still here." [4] The Canadian team finished narrowly third, taking the bronze medal, the thirty-eighth and final World Championship medal of Hamelin's career. [34]
Short track is a family affair for Hamelin: his brother François Hamelin is a fellow Olympian and national short track member. The former director of the national short track team is his father, Yves Hamelin. Hamelin made Hello! Canada's 50 most beautiful Canadians list in 2010, along with his then-girlfriend, fellow speed skater and Olympian Marianne St-Gelais. [35] In March 2018, after ten years as a couple, Hamelin and St-Gelais announced in a statement that they were splitting up. [36]
He is presently engaged to sports journalist Geneviève Tardif, with whom he shares a daughter, Violette, born on April 23, 2020. [37] The two were engaged in the summer of 2019, and were due to wed in 2020, but delayed their ceremony twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [23]
Marc Gagnon is a Canadian former short track speed skater. He is a four-time Overall World Champion for 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1998, and winner of three Olympic gold medals.
Christine Nesbitt is a Canadian retired long track speed skater who currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. She won the gold medal in the 1000 metres event at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. She had previously won a silver medal in the team pursuit at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. She is also the 2011 sprint champion, 2012 1500 metres world champion, three-time world champion for 1000 metres, and three-time world champion for team pursuit. On 4 June 2015 she announced her retirement.
François-Louis Tremblay is a Canadian retired short track speed skater and five-time Olympic medallist who competed at the 2002, 2006, and 2010 Winter Olympics.
John Robert "J. R." Celski is a retired American short track speed skater, three-time Olympian, and three-time medalist in the Winter Olympics. Celski has held a total of five combined Short Track World and Junior World Records throughout his career including the 500m and 5000m relay World Records as well as the 500m, 1000m and 3000m relay Junior World Records. Celski was a part of the team that broke and currently holds the World Record in the 5000m relay established in Shanghai, China on November 12, 2017.
Marianne St-Gelais is a Canadian former short track speed skater. She won two silver medals in the 500 m and 3,000 m relay at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, and a third silver in the 3,000 m relay at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
François Hamelin is a Canadian former short track speed skater from Sainte-Julie, Quebec, residing in Montreal. He is the younger brother of acclaimed Canadian short tracker Charles Hamelin. His father Yves Hamelin is also the director of the Canadian short track program.
Olivier Jean is a three time Olympian who represented Canada in both short and long track speed skating. Olivier Jean is a gold medalist from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games in the men's 5000m relay. He is a Canadian short track speed skater, racing internationally from 2002 to 2015 and switched to long track speed skating, competing internationally from 2015 to 2018. Olivier competed at his second Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 in short track speed skating, and for his third game appearance, switched to long track speed skating, competing in the mass start at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Games. His appearance is well known for his dreadlocks and for listening to reggae, which he says makes him skate faster.
Valérie Maltais is a Canadian short track speed skater and speed skater. She has won six world championship medals, including finishing second overall in 2012.
Sung Si-Bak is a South Korean short track speed skater. At the 2007 Winter Universiade, he won all five short track speed skating events. Sung has won more than 20 World Cup races and earned two World Cup titles, in addition to skating on the winning World Championship 5000 m relay teams in 2007 and 2008. He qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Sung was in medal contention leading into the final lap of the 1500 m event there, when a crash between him and a teammate led to his finishing in 5th place.
Shim Suk-hee is a South Korean short track speed skater. She is a two-time Olympic Champion and a World Champion (2014).
Charle Cournoyer is a Canadian short track speed skater. He won an Olympic bronze medal in the 500 m at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Cournoyer was also part of the gold medal World Championship relay team at the 2013 ISU World Championships for Canada.
Han Tianyu is a Chinese short-track speed-skater. He won the silver medal in men's 1500 metres short track speed skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics, behind the Canadian skater Charles Hamelin, who won the gold medal.
Kim Boutin is a Canadian short track speed skater. Boutin won silver in the 1,000 m and bronze in the 500 m and 1,500 m events at the 2018 Winter Olympics at Pyeonchang, Korea. She was the first Canadian female short track speed skater to win three individual Olympic medals in a single Olympics and the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic medal in the 1,500 m. As a result of her three medal performance she was named the flag bearer for Canada at the closing ceremonies for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Boutin has also won junior and senior world championships and World Cup medals.
Samuel Girard is a Canadian retired short-track speed skater. Girard is the reigning Olympic champion and first Canadian to win the Olympic gold in the 1,000 m. He won four medals, three silver and two bronze at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships and multiple World Cup medals.
Pascal Dion is a Canadian former short-track speed skater and Olympic gold medalist.
Lin Xiaojun, born Lim Hyo-jun, is a South Korean-born Chinese short track speed skater. He is the 2018 champion of the Men's 1500 m event in short track speed skating at the Winter Olympics, and also set the new Olympic record for the event. Originally starting as a swimmer, Lim took up skating at a young age. Despite multiple injuries early on in his career, he notably won gold at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics upon his international debut in the Boys' 1000 m event. He would later win the 1000 m and 1500 m events in the Budapest leg of the 2017–18 ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup and earn selection for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Upon his Olympic debut, Lim won the gold medal, setting a new Olympic record of 2:10.485 in the process, beating Lee Jung-su's previous record set at the 2010 games.
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Steven Dubois is a Canadian short-track speed skater.
Maxime Laoun is a Canadian short-track speed skater.
Jordan Pierre-Gilles is a Canadian short-track speed skater.