"We said... catch us if you can": Canada all smiles after Olympic gold medal race
Canada was too smart, and too fast, for their opponents in short track speed skating this morning.
The team of Charles Hamelin, Steven Dubois, Jordan Pierre-Gilles, and Pascal Dion raced to victory in the 5,000-metre short track speed skating relay this morning. Those four, along with Maxime Laoun, who helped the team qualify in the semi-final, were all smiles after the race.
“We planned it perfectly, for the last year and a half or so,” Hamelin told CBC television, noting the team’s calmness and patience throughout the race.
Canada sat comfortably back in third place for much of the first half of the race, with Hamelin saying that they conserved more energy because of it. The Canadians didn’t hold a sustained lead until lap 28 of 45, but then they never looked back.
“When we passed them, we just hit the gas,” Hamelin said. “We said to them catch us if you can! And they didn’t. They were not able to.”
"We proved over the last year and half we were the best team in the world and we wanted to show it today"
The golden Canadian men's 5000m relay team reflects on their gold medal performance and what it means to them 🇨🇦
Watch on the CBC Sports App and @cbcgem pic.twitter.com/Qjzab2MChV
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 16, 2022
Hamelin’s words cracked up his teammates, who were happy to help cement his status as one of the greatest Canadian Olympians of all-time.
The Saint-Julie, Quebec skater now has six Olympic medals in his career, four of them gold. That’s more medals than any Canadian man has ever won at a Winter Olympics, and ties Cindy Klassen as Canada’s most decorated Winter Olympian. He also ties Andre De Grasse as the most decorated male Olympian in Canadian Summer or Winter Olympic history.
This is the last of five Olympic Games for the 37-year-old, who is going out on top.
6 Olympic medals. 4 golds. 1 legend 🐐
Charles Hamelin finishes his Olympic career with GOLD pic.twitter.com/PQ5BX7amb7
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 16, 2022
“Finishing at the top of the podium, it can’t be better than that. Doing it with those boys, we worked really hard for the last four years just to be here and be in that final eight. Now being on the top of the podium, it’s the cherry on top for me to be with those guys, they’re like my brothers. It’s the best feeling ever.”
Hamelin might not hold the record for long though. His teammate, Dubois, won gold, silver, and bronze in Beijing.
“I wanted a sample of every medal,” the 24-year-old joked.
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