The new batch of athletes admitted to the Hall of Fame of the Hall of Fame of the Quebec Sports Pantheon has marked the imagination. Nevertheless, the fact that none of them was predestined to experience such success also unites these honorees.
Posted at 9:19 p.m.
“It looks like I still have the impostor syndrome, first mentioned Charline Labonté during the pre-ceremony cocktail party which took place at the Metropolitan Anjou golf club. I look at the cuvée… it’s something! »
With her, Benoit Huot, Erik Guay, Georges St-Pierre, Martin St-Louis, Michelle Gendron and Olga Hrycak became, on Tuesday, immortals of Quebec sport.
Guay was just as impressed to be inducted alongside such big names: “It’s a great vintage. It is an exceptional honor that I receive with humility and pride. We still recognize our athletes in Quebec and I think we are lucky. »
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Erick Guay
Moreover, times and mores have changed since the first inauguration ceremony 31 years ago. Georges St-Pierre is perhaps the best placed to understand this, he who started mixed martial arts at a time when it was forbidden to practice them. “Being inducted makes me really proud. »
Smile at the detractors
All the athletes present at the evening started their careers with a catch on the clock. Or two.
Labonté evolved in a completely masculine world. Huot had to prove to everyone that he could break through even when he was handicapped. Guay and St-Pierre have marked the history of disciplines that were atypical some time ago.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Benoit Huot
Now their name is part of the legend.
Labonté remembers her first life coach, in Novice C, who didn’t want her to play goalie because she was the only girl on his team. “Even today I think about that coach and I would like to see him again. Shake his hand and give him a smile,” she laughed, three Olympic gold medals later.
“I didn’t want to prove someone who didn’t believe in me wrong, but to prove those who believed in me that they were right,” she added.
St-Pierre also has the same vision of things. However, it took him longer to realize it. If now it’s only the eyes of the people he loves that matter, one of the greatest fighters in UFC history says he wasn’t always like this. “There has been a big change in the way I see things. When I was competing at the beginning, what other people thought of me was very important. And after my retirement I had a click. »
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, THE PRESS
Georges St-Pierre
Benoit Huot, meanwhile, used the looks that were on him to make a difference. Very early in his career, the swimmer who won 20 Paralympic medals understood that his platform could advance the cause. Beyond winning medals, his priority has always been “to promote the Paralympic movement. »
He explains that education and his role as an ambassador have taken a considerable place in his journey. While there is still “a lot of work to do,” this Hall of Fame induction may be confirmation that his goal of democratizing Paralympic sport has come to fruition.
No one is a prophet in his own country
Erik Guay rose to fame in Europe. During his career, he won two world championship titles and a crystal globe. The two highest honors after an Olympic medal in the world of alpine skiing. Even today, Guay humbly specifies that he was arrested in the street in Austria, his accomplishments were so grandiose.
However, despite himself, his prestige was less in his native province. Thus, being rewarded with such an honor confirms to him that even if he benefited greatly from his success on the other side of the Atlantic, Quebecers have always been behind him.
Now he wants to give back so that his compatriots can in turn reach the greatest heights.
We have everything we need to compete with the big names in Europe. We are proud to have a new World Cup at Tremblant. I think it will motivate our young Quebec athletes to prove that it’s not just in Europe that it happens.
Erick Guay
Ditto for St-Pierre, which was first raised to the rank of mega-star in Asia. When he returned to the Bell Center in 2008, he felt all the love that his people had for him: “It’s the most memorable moment of my career. […] When the announcer announced my name, I couldn’t hear it because the crowd was making too much noise. It was sick. It’s as if I was next to a loudspeaker in a nightclub and the vibration hit my skin. »