The pandemic shutdown has certainly come as a shock to the entire sporting community. Especially for athletes who are about to experience the biggest competition of their lives. With hindsight, Sandrine Hamel believes that this forced stop may have been beneficial. At least she will arrive at the Paralympic Games in Beijing more ready than ever.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
Last winter, the majority of competitions were sacrificed, due to the coronavirus. With the Paralympic Games a year away, it was certainly not ideal for athletes trying to qualify and prepare for it.
Despite her 24 years, Sandrine Hamel acts as a veteran within the national team. The snowboarder will be at her second Games and she is ready to achieve great things. Competitions were put aside, but she was able to compensate for the situation in other ways.
She and her team made up for the cancellation of competitions with a large volume of training. She was able to progress quickly and improve her technique, despite the fact that races on the circuit had been put on hold.
The pandemic also allowed him to return to the fold. To see his world again. To reunite with family and friends. By dint of accumulating stamps in his passport, Hamel had not been able to spend as much quality time with his family over the past few winters. Quality time. Essential time.
She also took advantage of this period to improve her stress management. Although coming home was good medicine, the work done with the team’s mental trainer had a huge impact on his start to the season and his performance.
The best preparation
Just before starting the Canadian team’s last camp before the Games, Hamel was scorching at the Para Snowboard World Championships in Lillehammer, Norway.
She won bronze in the parallel slalom event as well as gold in team snowboard cross. She had also won two medals at the previous Worlds in 2019. A dazzling dose of confidence for the athlete from Saint-Sauveur as the Games approach.
These two medals are all the more satisfying as she suffered a concussion in December.
“I was quite excited when I arrived in Norway for the Worlds. Winning the team event with my teammate has been one of my favorite moments since I started snowboarding,” explained Hamel from his hotel room in Alberta.
Not only because they triumphed, but above all because they had a lot of fun. Elite sport often comes with a ton of pressure, but it’s essential to never forget what sparked this passion that turned into a profession:
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, PRESS ARCHIVES
Sandrine Hamel
Sometimes, in big events like that, it can be a little bit harder, because it’s more stressful. So it’s important to get back to basics.
Sandrine Hamel
Ambitious from day one
Although she has been snowboarding since she was 8 years old, it was only 10 years later that she started competing. A little over two years later, she flew to PyeongChang to participate in her first Paralympic Games.
However, his journey has not always been rosy. Extremely competitive by nature, Hamel wanted to win from his first competitions. She felt she had what it took to move up the ranks quickly.
“I did not win, far from it! You could even say that I ate volleys, ”she said with a laugh.
Through hard work and effort, she managed to join her competitors who had mostly participated in the Paralympic Games in Sochi in 2014. Her rise has been meteoric.
A natural talent, but not unsuspected. Despite having double scoliosis that left her spine in an S-shape and having surgery around the age of 1 that greatly reduced her leg strength, she never limited herself. She has practiced just about every sport you can try. After this famous intervention, both of Sandrine Hamel’s legs could no longer move. Today, she is preparing to fight for a Paralympic medal.
A different approach
In his first Games, Hamel had twice finished in fifth place. Results that the ultra-competitive athlete that she is still has in her throat.
She is on a mission. She still is. Except this time, she is aware that she is a real medal hopeful. His progress has been spectacular since his return from the 2018 Games. Both in the World Cup and in the World Championships.
Of course there is stress, obviously, but the advantage I have for these Games is that I have better tools to manage this stress, which I perhaps did not have not yet in PyeongChang.
Sandrine Hamel
She learned that at the Paralympic Games, even if the competitors and the course are the same, the stakes are really higher: “Before my first Games, I was a little more naive, I did not know the magnitude that it was going to be, until I was in the starting gate. The feeling was truly unique. »
Since the first day she put her feet in the bindings of her board, Sandrine Hamel’s goal has been to make it to the Paralympic Games. “It was pretty much my dream from the start, a bit blindly and naively. »
As far back as she can remember, she has always told herself that there was no way there was anyone more competitive than her. Who wanted more than her. Who was going to work harder than her. She likes when the level is raised. She loves when training is tough. The more demanding the task, the more it feeds.
She toiled while waiting for everything to finally fall into place. On the starting line.
She will finally be able to realize her dream, for the second time.