Here's a pretty thorough bio on Charles, published just a few days ago:
Profile: Charles HamelinPosted by The Name Station on June 24, 2012
Short-tracker becomes national heartthrob overnight with double-gold performance at Vancouver 2010.
NAME: Charles Hamelin
HOMETOWN: Levis, Quebec
BIRTH DATE: April 14, 1984
GOLD MEDAL (2010) – men’s 500m short-track speed skating; GOLD MEDAL (2010) – men’s 5000m short-track relay
SILVER MEDAL (2006) – men’s 5000m short-track relay
Hamelin grew up in Levis, Quebec, opposite the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City. He and his younger brother Francois, a 2010 teammate, started short-track speed skating at a young age, coached by their father, Yves – a national team director. Though Hamelin is now the star of the national squad, it was a five-year-old Francois who first chose to get involved in short-track, and his enthusiasm soon led to the involvement of Charles and Yves.
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The elder Hamelin made his debut on the world stage after a successful junior career in the 2003-04 season, primarily as a member of the strong Canadian men’s 5000m relay team, but he broke through as an individual skater the following year. He won a silver medal in the men’s 500m at the 2005 World Championships – it became his signature event and he won gold in the event at the 2007 and 2009 World Championships.
At his debut Games, the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, Hamelin qualified for the final of the men’s 1500m – he spent much of the race in bronze-medal position before being passed and finishing a disappointing fourth place. But as a member of the men’s 5000m relay team, which traded the lead with the Koreans throughout the race but lost the lead on the last turn, Hamelin picked up his first career Olympic medal – silver.
Hamelin’s dominance on the short-track stage grew stronger following the Torino Games. Heading into the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, Hamelin had sights set on a handful of medals. The multi-distance expert was a seven-time World Championship gold medallist, eight-time World silver medallist, and he’d also won three bronze. He was entered into all race distances on the Olympic program (500m, 1000m, 1500m, 5000m relay), and it was anticipated he could medal in all of them – some even expected him to do so. But his sophomore Games got off to a shaky start when on Day 2, February 13th, he pulled a semifinal heat with favourites Lee Jung-Su of South Korea and superstar Apolo Ohno of the United States. (Ironically, the Vancouver Games were a homecoming of sorts for Ohno in his final Olympics, who grew up just a few hours south of the host city in Seattle, Washington.) Hamelin finished third in the heat and was relegated to the B Final, which he easily won.
That same night in the final of the 1000m, which Charles had reached along with the younger Hamelin, Francois. The exciting race saw the brothers mirror practices of the Chinese and Korean teams who consistently featured two (or more) skaters in event finals, and jumped out to a quick 1-2 in a packed five-man final. They kept the other skaters at bay by working together, with Ohno following in third and waiting to strike. He found his moment on the tail of a streaking Lee Ho-Suk and Sung Si-Bak of South Korea, pushing Charles into fourth and Francois into fifth to finish the race. Disappointed that his dream for multiple individual medals had dissipated, Hamelin instead focused on the positives and looked forward to the finals of his signature event, the 500m, and the sport’s marquee, the always wild men’s 5000m relay. Both event finals were contested on Day 15, within half an hour of each other.
Up first for Hamelin was the 500m final, led for most of the short two-lap race by Bak, the world record holder, with Hamelin close behind, waiting for a chance to make his move. But a costly slip off the final turn cost Bak the lead, and Hamelin was able to stick his skate blade across the finish line before spinning out of control in the aftermath of Bak’s fall. Ohno originally crossed the line in second place but was disqualified, ultimately wearing blame for Bak’s fall, who was still able to cross the finish line ahead of fellow Canadian Francois-Louis Tremblay, the national team’s oldest member and a three-time Olympian. But with Ohno’s disqualification in his final Olympic race, Tremblay moved up to the bronze medal position and Canada claimed two spots on the podium that night. The men’s 5000m relay followed, comprised of the Hamelin brothers, Tremblay, Olivier Jean, and Guillaume Bastille. The team had lived and trained together for years and had worked out countless strategies for victory in Vancouver. The day before the final, the team is said to have practiced running the race for hours, with new and unexpected change-offs in a bid to wear out the other teams, before they hit the start line for the real thing. Their plan was ultimately successful, with Hamelin earning two gold medals in 30 minutes, easily one of the most rapid double-gold performances in Canadian Olympic history.
Adding to Hamelin’s persona at the 2012 Games was his relationship with his bubbly teammate, surprise silver medallist Marianne St. Gelais. Following his 500m victory, Marianne raced down from the stands and leapt onto the barricade. Hamelin jumped up to meet her and they embraced, excitedly and publicly, in a heartwarming scene played over and over again. His good looks also earned him a spot on Hello! Canada’s 50 Most Beautiful People list in 2010.
He has experienced continued success on the world stage since the 2010 Games, though the 2010 World Championships were a disappointment – Hamelin didn’t medal at all. Following that, he altered his focus in a bid to remain a multiple-medal contender for Sochi in 2014, where it’s expected he will again be able to compete for hardware.[/img]
Read More:
canadianolympians.com/2012/06/24/charles-hamelin/Tags: Charles Hamelin / Francois Hamelin / Marianne St-Gelais
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