Marianne St-Gelais

{{Infobox speed skater

|sport = Short track speed skating

|name = Marianne St-Gelais

|image = 2010 Medals in 500 metres short track-Marianne St-Gelais.jpg

|country = {{CAN}}

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1990|2|17}}

|birth_place = Roberval, Quebec, Canada

|height = 1.62 m

|pb = 500 m: 43.922 WR (2009)
1000 m: (2009)
1500 m: (2009)
3000 m: (2009)

|show-medals = no

|medaltemplates=

|caption=St-Gelais}}

Marianne St-Gelais (born February 17, 1990) is a Canadian former short track speed skater. She won two silver medals in the 500 m and 3,000 m relay at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, and a third silver in the 3,000 m relay at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Personal life

St-Gelais, one of five siblings, began skating at the age of 10 when her neighbour encouraged her to join the local speed skating club.{{cite web|url=http://www.canada.com/sports/2010wintergames/Gelais%20racing%20towards%202010%20Olympics/1448962/story.html|title=St-Gelais racing towards 2010 Olympics|publisher=Canada.com|date=March 31, 2009|accessdate=October 31, 2015}} Her younger sister Catherine, 15, and brother Bastien 13, still skate competitively.

Marianne calls Saint-Félicien, Quebec her hometown but currently resides in Montreal. In mid-2018, she broke up with her then-boyfriend, short track speed skater Charles Hamelin.{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/culture/commuting/olympic-hopeful-loves-to-go-fast-on-and-off-the-ice/article4297048/|title=Olympic hopeful loves to go fast, on and off the ice|work=The Globe and Mail|date=December 24, 2009|accessdate=October 31, 2015}} St-Gelais as well as boyfriend Hamelin made Hello Canada's 50 most beautiful Canadians list in 2010.{{cite news |title = Fresh faces make Hello Canada's most beautiful list |publisher = CTV |date =May 13, 2010 |url = https://www.ctvnews.ca/fresh-faces-make-hello-canada-s-most-beautiful-list-1.512169 |accessdate=May 29, 2010}}

Career

As an accomplished junior skater, and world record holder, St-Gelais placed first overall at the 2007 Canada Games with four gold (500m, 1000m, 3000m and relay) and one silver medal (1500m). St-Gelais was named team Canada's "rising star" of 2009. Marianne St-Gelais is the 2009 world junior champion and world junior record holder in the 500 metres with a time of 43.922 seconds. St-Gelais won her first ever World Cup medal in 500m short track speed skating at Vancouver in 2009.

File:HamelinSt-Gelais.png

St-Gelais was a member of the Canadian team that attended the 2010 Winter Olympics in both the 500m and 3,000m relay.[https://www.cbc.ca/sports/2.722/canada-s-olympic-team-the-early-qualifiers-1.780266 cbc.ca] Olympic Qualified Prior to these Olympic games she had yet to win any medals at an Olympics or world championships. On February 17, her 20th birthday, she won a silver medal in the 500 metres.{{Cite web|title=St-Gelais sees silver lining on her 20th birthday|url=http://www.ctvolympics.ca/short-track-skating/news/newsid=44829.html|author=Lukas, Jennifer|publisher=CTV Olympics|date=February 17, 2010|accessdate=February 17, 2010}}{{Cite web|title=Canada's Winter Games Medals |url=http://vancouver.sportingnews.com/wolympics/medals.asp?country=CAN |publisher=Sporting News |accessdate=February 23, 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100220051132/http://vancouver.sportingnews.com/wolympics/medals.asp?country=CAN |archivedate=February 20, 2010 }} She followed this success with a silver medal on February 24, in the 3,000 metre relay, along with Jessica Gregg, Kalyna Roberge and Tania Vicent.{{Cite web|title=Canada takes silver in women's 3,000m relay |url=http://www.ctvolympics.ca/short-track-skating/news/newsid=51401.html|publisher=CTV Olympics|date=February 24, 2010|author=Lukas, Jennifer|accessdate=February 24, 2010}} After the Olympics St-Gelais continued on her success at the Olympics with a bronze in the 500m at the 2010 World Championships as well as a silver in the 3,000m relay.{{cite news |title = Medal haul continues at short track worlds |publisher = Sportsnet |date =March 20, 2010 |url = http://www.sportsnet.ca/more/short-track-worlds/ |accessdate=October 31, 2015}} At the World Team Championships St-Gelais was a part of the Canadian squad that won silver in the event. This concluded what was the most successful season of her young career, with 2 Olympic silvers, 2 world championship silvers, and a worlds bronze.

St-Gelais ended the 2010–11 ISU World Cup season as the 500 m World Cup Champion.{{cite news|title=Canada's St-Gelais wins 500 m World Cup title |url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/speedskating/canada-s-st-gelais-wins-500-m-world-cup-title-1.1093671 |publisher=CBC Sports |date=February 20, 2011|accessdate=October 31, 2015}}

At the 2014 Winter Olympics she took a third Olympic medal as part of the Canadian team in the 3,000 m relay.{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/marianne-st-gelais-retires-1.4684995 |title=Marianne St-Gelais 'taking it 1 day at a time' now that she's a retired athlete |last=Marandola |first=Sabrina |date=31 May 2018 |website=CBC.ca |access-date=3 March 2019}}

=2018 Winter Olympics=

In August 2017, St-Gelais was named to Canada's 2018 Winter Olympics team.{{cite web |url=http://olympic.ca/2017/08/30/10-short-track-speed-skaters-nominated-to-team-canada-for-pyeongchang-2018/|title=10 short track speed skaters nominated to Team Canada for PyeongChang 2018|last= Nichols|first=Paula|date=30 August 2017|website=www.olympic.ca/|publisher=Canadian Olympic Committee |access-date=16 November 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/olympics/three-time-olympic-gold-medallist-hamelin-lead-canadas-2018-short-track-team/|title=Gold medallist Hamelin to lead Canada's 2018 short-track team|date=30 August 2017|website=www.sportsnet.ca/|publisher=Sportsnet |access-date=16 November 2017}} However she was unable to secure a medal there, being disqualified in the 500 m for interference. However, after the Games she competed in her eighth World Championships, where she secured a bronze medal. She retired from competition that year.