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  #ShortTrackSkating #UpAgain

Athletes often struggle with when to hang up their shoes, or in this case, skates. That looming decision of retirement might come more easily when you have won everything possible in your sport like Charles Hamelin (CAN).

Going into the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2021/22, the Canadian Short Track Speed Skater has bagged 50 medals at Olympic and senior Championship level. Hamelin, overall World Champion in 2018, has won four Olympic gold medals and multiple World Championship titles in every distance.

Charles Hamelin (CAN) celebrates winning the Gold medal during the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing (CHN) @GettyImages

The sun will set on the 37-year-old legend’s career at the World Championships in Montreal (CAN), his hometown, this weekend. He will skip the individual races but try to lead the Canada men’s team to more Relay glory, having recently won Olympic gold at Beijing 2022.

It is the ultimate goal for Hamelin and his team in his last ride: “We just want to prove again that our chemistry on the ice is the strongest of any team and just crush it,” he said.

The veteran’s final race will come with the full support of the home crowd and on ice he knows all too well. “To have the chance to finish my career in Montreal at home, it is literally my home, I am more often in that ice rink than my own home. So it will be incredible,” he said.

The raucous crowd will be a boost but Hamelin is excited about one specific fan.

“I will have my daughter for the first time and the last time in the stands to watch me,” he said. “She knows what I am doing because when she watches me on TV when I am racing, she knows ‘Go, go, Papa’.

“She understands I am racing for something and need to win but she has never felt the ambiance of the crowd and that moment. I cannot wait for her to feel it for the first time and the last time with me.”

Hamelin’s daughter, who turns two later this month, is not the only youngster the skater has influenced. Many Canadian Speed Skaters have looked up to Hamelin, including his current Relay teammate Steven Dubois (CAN).

“As a kid I was taking pictures with him and getting him to sign my helmet,” Dubois said. “He was a big inspiration for me as a Canadian skater.”

Hamelin makes winning look easy but he puts in the hard work. His dedication proves more inspirational than an autographed helmet for Dubois.

 Steven Dubois and Charles Hamelin (CAN) celebrate during the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing (CHN) @GettyImages

“Earlier last year he was World Champ in the 1500 and it was a hard year for everyone. He was the guy who was training the most,” Dubois said. “I saw a big difference in how he was training and how I was training. He gave me motivation to do everything properly and train so hard. That is what I will keep with me from him.”

Hamelin’s legacy will be ever-lasting in the skating world but what is left for a man who has already accomplished it all?

Travel. But for real this time.

“People say you travel all around the world and everything. But when I travel for competition I don’t see much,” Hamelin said. “We don’t have time to see the city, hang around in a restaurant, or go visit the zoo. I want to travel again after my career but I want to travel for visiting and see the actual city that I am going to.”

After the World Championships, Hamelin already has the first legs of his world journey set up, with a trips to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, as well as Mexico, and a honeymoon in South Africa. He also has a special invitation to the Monaco Grand Prix with fellow Red Bull athletes who claimed Olympic medals in Beijing and Tokyo.

While athletes may get a lot of perks during their careers, such as traveling the world, as part of their job, some are harder to earn.

The energy drink company Red Bull has a long-standing reputation for protecting their branded gear, often making employees and sponsored athletes return the issued apparel. However, they have to make expectations for world champions, right? “Yeah, exactly,” Hamelin said.

“My brother was sponsored by Red Bull for a few years. He didn’t get a chance to keep the gear. He gave it all back to them,” Hamelin said with a laugh.

They say winning isn’t everything, but it certainly doesn’t hurt, as Hamelin knows all too well.