Samuel Girard

Samuel Girard
Personal information
Born (1996-06-26) June 26, 1996
Ferland-et-Boilleau, Québec
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Sport
Country  Canada
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
2017 RotterdamOverall

Samuel Girard (born June 26, 1996) is a Canadian 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]

Career

Girard competed at the at 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 him being named a rising star in short track competitions among Canadian media.[4] In response to being named 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

He was named to Canada's team at the 2018 Winter Olympics.[6][7] In the 1,000 m competition, Girard 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 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]

References

  1. 1 2 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 2017-10-13.
  3. ↑ "Samuel Girard biography". Infostrada. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
  4. 1 2 3 "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 2017-10-13.
  5. ↑ "Marianne St-Gelais closing in on short track world title". CBC Sports. March 11, 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
  6. ↑ Nichols, Paula (30 August 2017). "10 short track speed skaters nominated to Team Canada for PyeongChang 2018". www.olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  7. ↑ "Gold medallist Hamelin to lead Canada's 2018 short-track team". www.sportsnet.ca/. Sportsnet. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.


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