Racing on the edge: Hamelin says short track and Formula One have similarities

Charles Hamelin, Canada's most decorated winter Olympian, will be trackside for this week's Montreal Grand Prix, as Formula One returns to Canada for the first time since 2019.

Charles Hamelin was a couple of days removed from becoming Canada’s most decorated winter Olympian and was on his flight home from Beijing.

Connecting to the airplane’s Wi-Fi midflight, the first post that popped up on the short-track speedskater’s phone was a congratulatory tweet from Formula One superstar Lewis Hamilton.

Hamelin had raced at the Beijing Olympics in a purple and gold helmet, painted by artist Stacy Glaser, that was both a tribute to his two-year-old daughter Violette and in honour of one of his sporting idols, seven-time world champion Hamilton.

“Love the helmet Speedskater01. Congratulations on all your success in Beijing,” Hamilton tweeted to his more than seven million followers, with a gold-medal emoji. The post has almost 64,000 likes.

Hamelin was touched by Hamilton’s kindness. A sporting hero to so many in his own right, in that moment, the five-time Olympian was just an overjoyed fan.

“At first I thought no, it’s probably a fanpage. But it was really him,” Hamelin said. “He’s an idol for me, so for him to take the time to respond to me and tweet about it. It just made me think he’s not only a great athlete on the track to have achieved what he has, but he’s also a great human.”

The native of Sainte-Julie, Que., will be trackside for this week’s Montreal Grand Prix, as Formula One returns to Canada for the first time since 2019.

Hamelin was Canada’s flag-bearer — along with women’s hockey superstar Marie-Philip Poulin –at the opening ceremony in Beijing, where he tied long-track speedskater Cindy Klassen’s Canadian Winter Olympic record with his sixth career medal — including four gold.