Charles Hamelin (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. 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. Dubbed the "Locomotive de Sainte-Julie", Hamelin is widely considered one of Canada's finest athletes.
Career
Junior career
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.
Early senior career and 2006 Winter Olympics
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. That year he was also a part of the gold medal-winning Canadian squad at the World Team Championships.
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.
Following the 2006 Olympics, Hamelin won the gold medal in the 3000 m at the 2006 World Championships. 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. 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.
2010 Winter Olympics
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. Going into the Olympics, he was the reigning 500 m world champion and reigning World Cup champion. As such Hamelin was the gold medal favourite going into the 2010 Games in his home country.
