Young Charles Hamelin was not a prodigy. “A little clumsy skater”, he did not get on the podium. But he had fire in his eyes and determination in his stomach; two qualities that allowed him to become one of the greatest short track skaters in history. Today, he says loud and clear: Mission accomplished.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
Charles Hamelin was ready to read the biography of tennis player Andre Agassi, in 2021, when this idea germinated in his mind: “I may have something to tell [moi aussi]. »
A year and a half later, this thought has turned into a 256-page biography. Charles Hamelin: mission accomplished, in bookstores starting Thursday, tells the story of the remarkable journey of one of the most adored Quebec athletes of the last decade. All from the pen of journalist and RDS host Luc Bellemare.
We discover the Charles Hamelin which, in its beginnings, finished among the last in competition, but which improved day by day. The one who was bullied at school because of his “protruding ears” and his “crooked teeth”, but who could count on his family, “his oasis of peace”, to keep moving forward. The one who has learned, over the years, to believe in himself while remaining authentic.
“He didn’t become champion for nothing. Until the age of 16, he was an ordinary, decent skater. But what made the difference with the others is that he was passionate. […] The number of medals was not important. For him, it was about surpassing himself,” says Bellemare during a visit with Hamelin to the offices of The Press.
It is often said that good guys always finish last. [Charles], it’s the opposite. He scrapes that sentence not nearly.
Luc Bellemare, author of the biography Charles Hamelin: mission accomplished
It is through hard work and tenacity that Hamelin spent 19 years on the national team. Nicknamed “the Locomotive of Sainte-Julie”, he won six Olympic medals, 142 in World Cups and 38 in World Championships.
The biography covers one by one the major stages of his life and career, up to the day of his last lap in Montreal with his daughter Violette in his arms.
“Whether I won 3 medals or 200, it doesn’t matter, drop the main interested party in his usual humility. [Ma mission accomplie], is to have finished as I wanted and to have spent those moments with an incredible gang on the skates. I wouldn’t trade my story. If I hadn’t had to live through all those moments, I wouldn’t have become the Charles Hamelin who is here, here, in front of you. »
Honestly
The book also lifts the veil on some of the difficult times the skater has gone through over the years and about which he has so far remained discreet. In particular, he reveals certain details of his break-up with former skater Marianne St-Gelais, in the weeks following the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Luc Bellemare and Charles Hamelin
“Not talking about it was like hiding why I felt like that at the 2018 Games,” explains the Olympian. Without saying that it is only because of that, it is one of the reasons, but a very big reason. I was not 100% myself.
“I think it’s important to know how I experienced it, until we decided not to be together anymore. Because it really hasn’t been easy. I could have given up everything, stopped skating because everything was going wrong. »
The former skater confided in the author in complete transparency, the objective being to show “the paths [qu’il a] taken” and to explain the reasons behind certain results.
“For my children”
Luc Bellemare began covering Hamelin’s performances in 2005. When the athlete approached him to write his biography in April 2021, the journalist was happy, but hesitant. Even if he had cherished this “buried dream” of one day writing the biography of an Olympic athlete for a long time, the magnitude of the project made him dizzy.
“I know it’s asking a lot, but I couldn’t say no,” he suggests. Me, when life gives me an opportunity, I’m going to make myself sick, but I’m going to do it. »
Between the skater’s training for the Beijing Games and the busy schedule of the journalist and father of three children, they managed to complete the project in 10 months. Even during the Olympics, Hamelin made phone calls to the author to tell him, on the spot, everything he was going through. He incorporated many anecdotes here and there, such as this meal shared with Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon one good evening in July 2014.
I do it mainly for my children, if one day they want to read their dad’s story, it will be there for them.
Charles Hamelin
Moreover, for the curious, the former skater is doing well. More than six months after retiring, he’s working full-time as operations manager at Sodem, which runs recreation centers, in addition to running his business, Nagano Skate, and making radio appearances.
“It’s a little destabilizing. It’s like jumping into the void, in a parachute… You learn late to open it before arriving on the ground. But I have a lot of people helping me. I’m a guy who really likes challenges, so I’m getting into it,” he says, smiling.
Charles Hamelin will meet fans and be available to sign his biography on October 28, 29 and 30, as part of the Short Track World Cup in Montreal.
Charles Hamelin: Mission accomplished
Luc Bellemare
Editions La Presse
256 pages