Speed skater Charles Hamelin on track to explode

Soft-spoken speed skater saves boldest statements for ice

Dave Feschuk - The Star - February 2, 2010
Handicapping the madness is madness. So maybe the reason Canada's Charles Hamelin is among the relative favourites to win an impressive haul of medals at the Vancouver Olympics is that he hasn't spent a moment of the past four years torturing himself with questions of, "Why me?" and "What might have been?" Hamelin, after all, was dubiously bumped off the podium in the final of the 1,500 metres at the Turin Games in 2006. The Olympic rookie from Levis, Que., led the race with a few laps to go and he looked in good shape to make a sprint for a medal.
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St. Gelais, though she is more than five years younger than her boyfriend, said she had to take the initiative in their relationship.


"I made the first move. He was really shy. And when he was talking to me, his face was red and he was stuttering," said St. Gelais, giggling. "He's shy, but not on the ice. On the ice, he's another man. He's not the same Charles. I think that's why he's good. On the ice, he's another man. Off the ice, he's a normal, quiet person.