When Marc Gagnon announced that he was retiring on September 25, 2002, he never thought he would take his skates out eight years later to become a coach. He would have even less believed that he would be back at the Olympics twenty years after reaching the pinnacle of his career at the Salt Lake City Games.
Yet here he is at the Beijing Olympics as assistant coach of the Canadian short track speed skating team.
“The first years after retiring, I really wanted to disconnect,” Gagnon said in a telephone interview in Beijing with The Canadian Press. I retired when I was at the top. I could have had more years ahead of me if I had wanted to stretch that—positive or declining years, it doesn’t matter. »
“I often ran into Isabelle Charest [l’ancienne patineuse de vitesse aujourd’hui ministre responsable de la Condition féminine et ministre déléguée à l’Éducation] because we were both gym owners, and the amount of times we wondered if we were going to start skating again, it’s crazy! I really needed to be away from that. »
Now 46, Gagnon says he needed a break from speed skating because his obsession with winning was wearing him down. He also had nothing left to prove after the Salt Lake City Olympics. He was then the most decorated athlete in Canada’s history at the Winter Games with five medals to his collection, three gold medals and two silver.
For eight years, Gagnon embarked on various business adventures, notably with Énergie Cardio and La Cage aux sports. During this period, he turned his back on various opportunities to become a coach. It took the call of his former teammate and friend Jonathan Guilmette for him to return to the rink as a coach.
Gagnon was probably right when he said he would never have stopped skating if he hadn’t hung up his skates in 2002. The sting came quickly when he returned to the rink.
“Jonathan called me one morning in 2010, selling it to me the right way, telling me to come ‘coach’ with him and that it wouldn’t interfere with my days managing my businesses,” explained Gagnon. I wanted to give myself a year to train with a good friend, telling myself that if I didn’t like it, I would go back to what I was doing. »
“After two weeks, I was sold. I knew that was what I wanted to do. I started talks to sell my businesses. »
During his career, Gagnon notably spent six years at the Canadian Regional Training Centre. He finally made the move to the national team in January 2021.
“I was good where I was, and I liked coaching. On the other hand, I would be a liar to say that I don’t like my position currently because I was a performance guy when I was an athlete, admitted Gagnon. To find myself with these athletes who resemble the skater that I was during the last ten years of my career, it is sure that it is even more interesting and rewarding. »
A lot of stress
Gagnon had his Olympic baptism as a coach on Saturday at the Palais Omnisport in the capital, the site where he won his first world title in 1993.
The first part of the evening went off without a hitch, as the five Canadian skaters in action qualified for the women’s 500 meters and the men’s 1000 meters. The rest of the evening was much more difficult for Gagnon’s nerves, as Canada was penalized and relegated to sixth place in the mixed 2000-metre relay following a fall by Florence Brunelle.
“I definitely lost weight,” exclaimed Gagnon, looking back on the evening. I can definitely say that as an athlete I have never been stressed like yesterday [samedi]. »
“I realize in all of this it’s not just the stress of not knowing how things are going to turn out, but there’s also a deep desire for your athletes to succeed. You don’t want something like what happened yesterday. You want everything to go well and that in the end they will reap what they have worked so hard for. »
However, he has the opportunity to share his knowledge with these athletes and come full circle by giving back his time and energy to the sport that made him one of the greatest Canadian athletes of his generation.