Transcript: Charles Hamelin on Player's Own Voice podcast Feb 17 2022

Anastasia: When athletes dream big about the Olympics, it's Charles Hamelin's life that they envision. He and Cindy Klassen now share the distinction of winning more winter medals than any other Canadians. With Gold in his final Olympic race, Charles Hamelin has done it all, and carried the flag to prove it.

It's Player's Own Voice. I'm Anastasia Bucsis.

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Holy mackerel. But you did it. You tied the greatest of all time Cindy Klassen. Six Olympic medals. Are you going to be on a quarter? Because her face is on a quarter.

Charles Hamelin: I don't know. You should ask Canada!

Anastasia: Yeah, I can lead that campaign if you want. It was such a pleasure to watch that relay last night.

Charles Hamelin: It was a crazy race. I think, uh, all the boys, we were ready to rock that place and we did it. And I think, the plan we had, we executed like perfectly. And I think with fifteen laps to go when we were in front, I knew. I was like: We got it. So it was an awesome feeling.

Anastasia: Is there ever a time where you think, wow, if we just stay on our feet, we're going to win this race? Or are you just so dialled in that you're not really thinking about that?

Charles Hamelin: Yeah, I would say in that relay with two exchanges just to go, when Pascal pushed me, I knew we were going to win because we were taking gaps on everyone and nobody was able to catch up. And I was just like, we got this! Nobody. Nobody can beat us. And as soon as I saw Steven go for the last two laps, I was like: done deal.

Anastasia: Done deal! I've told you this. I watched the 5000 m relay in Vancouver when you won gold as well. How does this compare to then?

Charles Hamelin: Well, I would say it's pretty similar, you know, because, uh, the vibe in the team right now is it feels the same as in Vancouver with my brother François,

Olivier Jean, François-Louis Tremblay and Guillaume Bastille. Uh, we were kind of crazy kids back then and now it's just exactly the same. You know, we are having fun off the ice. We're doing crazy things like funny things. But when we are on ice training, we are doing business, you know, we are serious and we know what to work, what we have to work on. And when we race, we race to win. And that's exactly what we did yesterday.

Anastasia: What are you going to not miss about speed skating?

Charles Hamelin: Maybe having my legs hurt every single day of my life, (laughs)

Anastasia: it never gets easier.

Charles Hamelin: Oh, my god, no. Always difficult. I think I didn't see the difference, before the last three or four years. Last quad. Before that, I didn't see a difference in between, like year after year. But the last four years it was a little bit harder every single year. So I was like, it will be a good time to stop.

Anastasia: Oh May first. The first few weeks in May? It is a little different for long track. I think you guys start training a little bit earlier than we do?

Charles Hamelin: Yeah, we start in May. Yeah, same.

Anastasia: But every day in May is leg day. You have delayed onset muscle soreness. DOMS, every single day, like walking up the stairs, sitting down on the toilet…

Charles Hamelin: Stairs are my nemesis. You know, like, I'm walking up stairs. I'm like, like the worst guy. I mean, ' Oh my god, I'm going to die.' People are asking " Are you not an athlete"? I'm like, Yes, but not for stairs.

Anastasia: No, no, I'll take the elevator. Thank you very much. How did you feel personally about your skating in the in the relay?

Charles Hamelin: I was just confident. I was, my confidence was in every single one of my team-mates. I knew they were going to do the job and I was confident to do my job the best I could, and I just executed what I wanted to do. Like being smooth, being patient and being in control of what I was doing. I was pushing Jordan and he made a pass on one of the exchanges I did with him. And that was the plan, you know, like going further in the race and advancing in the pack. And the more we got to the end of the race, and the last two or three exchanges we were in the front and I just I knew I could give everything I got for the last two exchanges and make sure the Koreans, don't have any chance to catch up.

Anastasia: What do you attribute the longevity of your career to?

Charles Hamelin: I have to say my father, he was the guy who built myself and my brother as athlete because he was there since the beginning of everything. Back before I, we were skaters. He was there for me, and Francois when we were playing baseball, Franky didn't play a lot of baseball, but I played a little bit more.

Anastasia: Uh, what position you play?

Charles Hamelin: I played right field. Well, I was versatile. I was like second base,and if all the pitchers were bad that day, I was like the last pitcher going there. Because I had a really strong arm. I was able to throw the ball from the field to the catcher in one throw. So I was kind of powerful, but as soon as there was people on the plate, I was afraid to hit them. So I was throwing the ball everywhere. I was not the first pick for a pitcher, but like my father was there the whole time for us.

And we didn't know it at the time because we were kids, and we were just doing what our father was asking us to do. And he was never the father to be really strict and like, you have to do that thing. He was always giving us the choice and letting us decide if we wanted to do a training or go with our friends, during our careers. And I think he forged us, our characters and what values he puts into us as skaters, as humans to be there for a good reason.

And to be there because I love the sport and I would say it's because of him, because since we were young, we were seeing our dad going out for jogging, biking, he was doing cross-country skiing also. So we had a really good role model for that. And he knew what we had to do when we were young to have the base layer of an athlete as strong as possible for the biggest part of the pyramid. And we were able to build a pretty strong athlete on top of that. And I think one of the reasons why I'm still here is because of that, uh, my foundation as an athlete is really strong and I'm strong physically and I'm strong mentally, strong for every single part of short track. So, good job Dad!.

Anastasia: Good job, dad. You've always, you know, to a casual viewer, you might not know this, but even within the team, you've had such a reputation of being a beast! Like you are very physically strong. What's your relationship with relaxation?

Charles Hamelin: Laughs. It's difficult to be relaxed. In the last couple of years, I kind of discovered how to be more relaxed. You know, yoga and like relaxation with my girlfriend and with the boys. So I discovered a little bit more of a smooth side of being an athlete. And I think that's good because when you're getting older, you need to take care of everything like, you know, you can just go all-out all day long and make sure that you hit the gas every single practice. So you need some time to rest and take care of the body.

Anastasia: What's the first thing you're going to do when you go home?

Charles Hamelin: Kiss my wife and my little daughter!

Anastasia: And of course you've been pretty candid. You're going to retire in March. World Championships are in Montreal.

Charles Hamelin: Yeah, in Montreal.

Anastasia: How special is it to go out with the Olympic Gold Medal around your neck and World Championships in your hometown?

Charles Hamelin: Well, I couldn't ask for more. To be in Montreal with the team being Olympic champion. It's something incredible. I think if there's a crowd in the stands, it will be pretty stoked. Uh, I was able to, uh, to witness that four years ago and, uh, 12 years ago. So for me, it will be, cut and paste from four years ago and there will be, uh, the best end of a career.

Anastasia: It's been a pleasure watching you, my friend.

Charles Hamelin: Yeah, thank you.

Anastasia: Peace!

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Charles and I chatted in the international broadcast centre in Beijing.

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