Charles Hamelin

Charles Hamelin is a Canadian retired short-track speed skater, born on April 14, 1984, whose international career spanned nearly twenty years. He took part in five Winter Olympic Games (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022) and won six Olympic medals, including a national-best four gold medals. He won thirty-eight medals at the World Championships, fourteen of them gold, and led Canada to five world relay titles. He was the 2014 Overall World Cup season winner and the 2018 Overall World Champion, which gave him all the achievements available in the sport, and he is the former world record holder in the 1000 m. At his first Olympics in 2006 he finished fourth in the 1500 m and won a silver medal with the Canadian relay team, and he won his first two Olympic gold medals on home ice in Vancouver in 2010. Nicknamed the Locomotive de Sainte-Julie, he is widely considered one of Canada's finest athletes.