St-Gelais racing towards 2010 Olympics

Arpon Basu, Canwest News Service - March 31, 2009
MONTREAL — Marianne St-Gelais was lining up for a race with the top short-track speedskaters in the country three years ago when she had her moment, her speck in time where it finally dawned on her that she could potentially go on to great things in her sport.

Only 16 at the time, St-Gelais was about to embark in the A final of the 500 metres in a Canadian elite series event when national team veteran Anne Maltais — 10 years her elder — skated over and said: “Don’t take off too quickly, we’d like to try and keep up.”

“I couldn’t believe it,” said St-Gelais, now 19. “I was so afraid of them; I never could have imagined they would be a little afraid of me as well. That proved to me that I belonged there, that I had arrived.”

Read more ...