Canadian short track speed skating team set up for success in post-Hamelin era

When Jordan Pierre-Gilles stepped up to the starting line for Canada in the men's 5,000-metre relay at the Beijing Olympics in February, the moment — even beyond skating for his first Olympic medal at his first Olympic Games — was not lost on him.

The last short track speed skating event of the Olympics in February was also the final Olympic competition for Canadian legend Charles Hamelin, who was gunning for a fourth career gold medal.

"We were confident, and I think we were actually really hungry because most of us to that point had no medals in the Games," Pierre-Gilles told CBC Sports recently. "It was more confidence than pressure."

Dubois was the one exception, finishing with a bronze in the men's 1,500m and a silver in the men's 500m earlier in the competition. On the women's side, Kim Boutin, 27, brought in a bronze medal of her own in the 500m.

Canada's short track season gets underway on Friday with the Canadian Short Track Championships in Quebec City, before the first international competition of the year on Oct. 28-30 in Montreal with the first of six World Cup events. That event will be will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem and the free CBC Sports app.

Hamelin had precious few chances left in his illustrious 20-year career on the national circuit.

In his fifth Olympic Games, Hamelin was at risk of coming up empty-handed for his first time. He won silver in Torino 2006, two golds in Vancouver 2010, gold in Sochi 2014, and a bronze in the men's 5,000m in PyeongChang 2018.

The third-place finish in 2018 was one that brought mixed emotions from Hamelin and Dion.

"I think in 2018 we were a bit disappointed, but I feel like we were just unfortunate," Dion said. "Sam [Girard] got hit in the last two laps