Two legends of their sport, one on the ice and one on the track, met on Saturday afternoon, in the paddocks of the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit. Ex-short track speed skater Charles Hamelin and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
Posted at 4:11 p.m.
At the Beijing Olympics last February, Hamelin wore a helmet that paid homage to that of the pilot, one of his great idols. On his social networks, Hamilton had shared a photo of Hamelin congratulating him on his gold medal. The skater met his idol on Saturday afternoon, before qualifying for the Grand Prix of Canada.
The man nicknamed the Locomotive de Sainte-Julie still had stars in his eyes when he told us about his one-on-one with the seven-time Formula 1 world champion.
“It was really amazing,” he said. I did not know [que ça arriverait], it was a surprise to me. I had already prepared myself in case I ran into him; I had my helmet that I had had made in his honor. We arrived in front of the Mercedes tent and I said to myself: maybe this is what will happen. […] Eventually he came in and it was a shock. »
PHOTO FROM CHARLES HAMELIN’S TWITTER ACCOUNT
I was on the verge of tears. I was just really happy. I was speechless, I had trouble speaking.
Charles Hamelin
As he hoped, Hamelin handed over his helmet to Hamilton after signing it at the driver’s request. Then they discussed training, careers, French bulldogs… “We talked about a lot of things as if he was a boyfriend that I hadn’t seen in a long time! he launched.
Charles Hamelin has long been a Formula 1 enthusiast. After all, there is a pretty obvious parallel to be made with speed skating.
“There are a lot of things to learn from Formula 1 for a short track guy,” he said. That’s what I did. I watched pretty much all the races, except when I was on a plane. »
“I was really attentive to how they follow each other, how they act when they want to pass or block, he explained. It’s really interesting to see how they do it at the speed they are going. It’s up to me, after that, to replicate it in the race, on the ice, with my skates. With my father and my coaches, sometimes I would film bits of overtaking and say: we could try to do this again or find something like this for the future. »
Always busy
Hamelin said goodbye to speed skating a few months ago after 19 years on the national team and six Olympic medals, including four gold. But the 38-year-old ex-athlete has not yet had time to breathe. He is currently working on his biography, which will be published in October. And he’s getting married next week. Then, it will be the honeymoon in South Africa.
“I thought I had more time for myself now that I don’t have any more skating or training, but no! I don’t have any more! he laughed.
“It’s really fun. It doesn’t stop! The time we have, we try to spend it with Violette at home, with the family. »