Opinion | Five-time Canadian medalist Charles Hamelin seeks glory at his last Olympics

BEIJING Charles Hamelin’s life on the other side of the Olympics has been completely eliminated.

Married this summer, honeymoon in South Africa, new career as a businessman at two companies he has already founded, the sale of skating equipment and the connection of young people who show either interest or talent in short career, the sport that was his consuming passion.

But before starting his second industry, the 37-year-old is still an Olympic player, still looking for medals, still a once and for all legend.

The venerable Hamelin, the straw that has long stirred the shortcut drink in Canada, claims he will retire after the 2022 World Cup in Montreal, on the heels of Beijing, his fifth Games. Of course, he said that last time a lap too, when he left Pyeongchang with just a single bronze in the men’s 5,000-meter relay and a string of DQs. Changed plans after the 2018 World Championships shortly thereafter, also in Montreal, where he collected a gold prop in the 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters.

“So everything has been postponed and I am very happy with that decision,” he said on Tuesday afternoon in the mixed zone at the short track venue.

The thing is, Hamelin had a crisis of competitive conscience when he left Pyeongchang. “Not with the result, I was disappointed with how I felt. “Even though I had a medal around my neck, I felt I did not have a positive memory of those Games.”

That’s what he calls his medals – souvenirs. He has five of them from the Olympics, including a pair of golds won 30 minutes apart in Vancouver 2010: 500 meters and relay. That quintet put him in a draw for Canada’s most decorated male Winter Olympics with Marc Gagnon, François-Louis Tremblay and Scott Moir. Any stage finish and he will have the half-dozen distinction alone.

“I did not come here to beat a record or rewrite history,” he insists, shaking his head. “I’m here to have fun and make sure I bring fun to the team. I want to have fun with the boys and the girls. “Even though I do not have medals around my neck to get home, I think what I have done in the past is much stronger than what I will achieve here.”

Demonstrations aside, make no mistake. Hamelin shoots for glory. Olympic medals never get old, even if he might.

“The love for short circuit is everything to me. That’s the main reason why I’m here now. I aim to come home with a big smile on my face and make sure I do not regret the Games. With a nice souvenir from here. “

And he does not mean Olympic Games kitsch.

Four years ago, when Hamelin was half a short-lived king-and-queen couple, Marianne St-Gelais became engaged to the other half (although they were actually already separated after a decade, a detail that was kept secret held) – the Games did not go as expected of him. And though he maintains that the post-Olympic ennui cannot be attributed to a lone bronze, there is no doubt that those Games left a void.

Medals has structured and defined his life since he first competed in a competition at the age of nine, growing up in a family of short track fans in Sainte-Julie, Que. Learn on the knee of a father, Yves, who coached nationally, and was preceded in death by an older brother, François, who won gold with him in Vancouver. The sport may seem chaotic and unpredictable, but there has always been remarkable stage stability after Hamelin.

For the sake of divinity, the man won 37 medals at the world championships – as many as Russia, Hungary, Australia, Poland and Belgium combined. Plus a World Cup score of 60 gold, 44 silver and 27 bronze. He is the defending world champion in the 1,500.

OK, 37 is, well, 37. But Hamelin clearly still brings it up, his hairy body bouncing back from the collisions, collisions and spinouts of the sport.

“I have a body that can withstand a lot. For me it’s the key – I can do a little training or I can have a big load. Over the years, I have to manage my body a little more, because, yes, I’m getting older. It’s not that easy, year after year. But my coach (Sébastien Cros), he knows me very well, my roots, how I train. If I follow the play, I will perform well, with good energy. “

There is also the spiritual peace that accompanies first-time fatherhood, daughter Violette who was born almost two years ago to fiancée Geneviève Tardif, a sports reporter at Radio-Canada.

“If you have a child, you realize many things that I may not have understood before. To be a little more patient, to enjoy the good vibes. I’m serious on the ice and do not talk much at the exercise. But I’m a really fun guy, I like to make jokes. I hadn’t done this so much before because I was more serious, more focused on myself. “Since I’m a dad, there’s less stress in my head to compete.”

The strength and appeal of short-distance speed skating in Quebec is quite extraordinary – only one member of the Olympic team comes from outside the province. Hamelin, who is largely responsible for much of that short-track brilliance, explains the sport’s resonance as follows: “We have a lot of icons in Quebec, a lot of role models who went to the Olympics and they give back to the sport. They go back to their clubs. Olympics after Olympics we achieved success. Parents want to put their children on the short path. “Children see us on TV and it’s something they hope they can become.”

If this is indeed the end of the Olympic line for Hamelin, then it’s Games of Farewell-spicy.

“I am happy to say this is my last. I’m at peace with that. “

–

Most Decorated Canadian Olympians

7

– Penny Oleksiakswim (one gold, two silver, four bronze)

6

– Cindy Klassenlong-distance speed skating (one gold, two silver, three bronze)

– Clara Hugheslong-distance speed skating, road biker (one gold, one silver, four bronze)

– Andre De Grasseathletics (one gold, one silver, four bronze)

5

– Hayley Wickenheiserice hockey (four gold, one silver)

– Jayna Heffordice hockey (four gold, one silver)

– Tessa Deugfigure skating (three gold, two silver)

– Scott Moirfigure skating (three gold, two silver)

– Charles Hamelinshort track speed skating (three gold, one silver, one bronze)

– Marc Gagnonshort track speed skating (three gold, two bronze)

– Francois-Louis Tremblayshort track speed skating (two gold, two silver, one bronze)

– Lesley Thompson-Willierowing (one gold, three silver, one bronze)

– Phil Edwardsathletics (five bronze)

Rosie DiManno is a Toronto-based columnist covering sports and current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @rdimanno