Four-time short-track speed skating Olympic champion Charles Hamelin retires at 37

Four-time short-track speed skating Olympic champion Charles Hamelin has hung up his skates after a monumental nearly 20-year-long career after winning a bronze medal for Canada at the World Short Track Championships in Montreal on Sunday (April 10).

After attaining a podium finish in the 5,000m relay, Hamelin said:

“Ultimately, the colour of the medal doesn’t matter much. We’ve lived the moments we wanted to live, with the crowd and the boys. In any case, the colour we wanted, we got it a few weeks ago in Beijing.”

With friends and family cheering Hamelin from the stands, the 37-year-old stated that there was no better way to call time on his two-decade-long career. He also took to the ice to skate a farewell lap with his daughter Violette in his arms. The 38-year-old added:

"It means a lot to me. She is a little older but maybe she didn't understand what was happening. But I am sure she enjoyed the moment with me. It was one of the things I wanted to do and I am glad it happened here in Montreal. It is one of the best things that happened to me. The chance to finish at home, with my family in the stands, is the greatest feeling. It is almost like any Olympics I went to."

Charles Hamelin's major achievements

Canadian Charles Hamelin competed in five Winter Olympic Games, with his first medal coming in the form of a silver in the 5,000m relay at the 2006 Turin Winter Games. He was a part of the 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 Winter Games for Team Canada where he bagged six Olympic medals, including four gold medals.

Hamelin has won 38 medals at the World Championships, including fourteen gold medals. He also led Canada to five world relay titles.

Hamelin was the 2014 overall World Cup season winner and the 2018 overall World Champion. With this, the 37-year-old has won almost all the laurels the sport has to offer, making him one of the most decorated and legendary short-track speed skaters to ever grace the sport.