Charles Hamelin makes history

An excited crowd, a historical moment, some amazing performances, a flawless organisation, are just a few of the terms that could be used to describe the ISU 2018 World short track championships.

By Carl Savard

Photos by Carl Savard and Danny Kim (dk_st)

Charles Hamelin makes history

At 33 years old, Charles Hamelin became the oldest overall short track speed skating champion in the history of the sport. Hamelin, who announced last week that he was backing out of the retirement plans he had announced at the beginning of the season, just added to his legendary career with this title. A title that puts an end to any arguments from doubters who thought it was time for him to let go and retire. "I was prepared for this kind of results, but to actually accomplish it is like a dream come true. I was missing only two titles in my career, the 1000m gold medal at the Olympics and the overall world champion title and I can’t find the words to express how it feels to accomplish one of those at home, in Montreal. I feel like I still can bring something to short track.”  It would be hard to argue with Hamelin at the moment.

Korea’s Choi Min Jeong in a class of her own

At only 19 years old, Choi Min Jeong wins her third world champion overall title. After being crowned for the first time in Moscow in 2015 and a second time in Seoul in 2016, victories on 1500m, 500m and 3000m in Montreal were enough to finish ahead of her teammate Shim Suk Hee, who was the last world champion crowned in Montreal in 2014. “Honestly, this victory was unexpected because I got injured at the Olympic games and after the Olympics I had to recover so I couldn’t prepare for this weekend so I’m very happy.”

Results from the crowd favourites

Other than the historical performance of Charles Hamelin, his teammate Samuel Girard finished 10th overall while Pascal Dion ended the competition 22nd out of 53 skaters. On the women’s side, bronze medalist on 1500m Kim Boutin finished 7th overall while Jamie Macdonald and Marianne St-Gelais finished respectively 9th and 19th

Surprising outcome for Liu Shaolin Sandor

After two days of competition that looked like a roller coaster ride, Liu Shaolin Sandor finished second overall.  “It was a massive surprise for me. I didn’t imagine I could be on the overall podium. The 3000m is not really my distance but everything went the way that was best for me. When I looked up and I saw that I had 45 points and the Korean had 44 I thought, oh my God this is short track, anything can happen. I skated in only one A final before the 3000m. This is magic. It’s such a good thing to come back to a country that love our sport so much. Racing in Montreal is great. Everyone is cheering and not just for Canadian skaters. They are cheering for everyone. It’s such a great feeling.”

A lot of action on the relay events

On the women’s side, Korea who had three of the top five skaters of the overall ranking on these 2018 World championships were just too strong during the 3000m relay and were crowned champions at the end of the 27 laps event. After fighting with Canada, the Netherlands were able to claim silver while Canada got the bronze. Dutch skater Yara van Kerkhof, who was hoping for better individual results, was quite pleased by the outcome of this relay final. As for the Canadian women and their fans gathered at the Maurice-Richard arena, the bronze medal was an emotional one as they were witnessing the last laps of Marianne St-Gelais’s career.

On the men’s side, Korea wins gold finishing ahead of Canada and Japan. The Netherlands who had won the title last season, finished fourth. Samuel Girard, Charles Hamelin, Charle Cournoyer and Pascal Dion were really proud of their silver medal. They felt like they perfectly executed their plan. They were beaten by a team who skated a flawless race and was just stronger than them today.

This puts an end to the 2017-18 short track speed skating season at the international level but we will keep offering you short track content up until next season so stay tuned!