Samuel Girard

Samuel Girard (born June 26, 1996) is a Canadian retired short-track speed skater. Girard is the reigning Olympic champion and first Canadian to win the Olympic gold in the 1,000 m.[1] He won four medals, three silver and two bronze at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships and multiple World Cup medals.[2][3]

For the ice hockey player, see Sam Girard.
Samuel Girard
Personal information
NationalityCanadian
Born (1996-06-26) June 26, 1996
Ferland-et-Boilleau, Québec
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight72 kg (159 lb)
Sport
CountryCanada
SportShort track speed skating
Event(s)1000 m, 1500 m
Medal record
Olympic Games
2018 Pyeongchang1000 m
2018 Pyeongchang5000 m relay
World Championships
2016 Seoul1000 m
2016 Seoul5000 m relay
2017 Rotterdam1500 m
2018 Montreal5000 m relay
2019 Sofia1500 m
2017 RotterdamOverall

Career

Girard competed at the 2016 World Championships where he won a silver in the 1,000 m behind countryman Charles Hamelin, and a silver in the 5,000 m relay.[4] These results led to his being named a rising star in short track competitions among Canadian media.[4] In response to being referred to as the next Hamelin, Girard said that “I’m not the second Charles Hamelin. I will be Samuel Girard, and this will be my career. I want to follow what Charles did, and it’s really inspiring to skate with him."[4]

The following season, Girard had an even better world championships in Rotterdam at the 2017 World Championships. There he won a silver medal in the 1,500 m event, and with his total results finished in third overall at the competition.[5]

2018 Winter Olympics

Girard was named to Canada's team at the 2018 Winter Olympics.[6][7] In the 1,000 m competition, he was in the semi-final together with teammate Hamelin. Girard initially failed to qualify for the final but a review of a tight passing scenario in the semi-final determined that Hamelin had interfered with Girard and Girard was advanced to the final. Skating the final, Girard led almost from start to finish, with his tactics to stay out of trouble in the pack. His strategy was proven wise when Hungarian skater Sándor Liu Shaolin took out both Korean skaters behind Girard in an aggressive pass. This cleared the way for Girard to win the gold in 1,000 m, the first Canadian short track speed skater to win in the distance.[1]

Retirement

While competing at the 2019 World Championships Girard won another silver medal, his fourth individual world medal and sixth including two relay medals. During the summer of 2019, Girard and his girlfriend Kasandra Bradette, suddenly announced their retirement.[8] Girard was expected to be the heir to Charles Hamelin but actually retired before the elder. His retirement left the Canadian men's short track team without a true star aside from Hamelin, leaving Kim Boutin as the sole leader of the Canadian team.[8]

References
  1. Pete Evans (February 17, 2018). "Samuel Girard becomes Canada's 1st Olympic champion in 1,000m short track".
  2. "Samuel Girard, Genève Bélanger and Audrey Phaneuf to lead Canadian Short Track Speed Skating team at World Junior Championships Races will take place from Feb. 27 to March 1 in Osaka, Japan". SIRC. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  3. "Samuel Girard biography". Infostrada. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  4. "Samuel Girard shows why he's a rising star in short track with 500-metre gold at World Cup in Calgary". National Post. November 6, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  5. "Marianne St-Gelais closing in on short track world title". CBC Sports. March 11, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  6. Nichols, Paula (August 30, 2017). "10 short track speed skaters nominated to Team Canada for PyeongChang 2018". www.olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  7. "Gold medallist Hamelin to lead Canada's 2018 short-track team". www.sportsnet.ca/. Sportsnet. August 30, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  8. "Olympic champion Samuel Girard announces sudden retirement". CBC Sports. May 24, 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
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