Sunday, February 24, 2002
Motherlode
By STEVE BUFFERY -- Toronto Sun
SALT LAKE CITY -- Marc Gagnon established himself as a Canadian Olympian of legendary proportions last night.
Gagnon, of Chicoutimi, Que., blasted to the gold medal in the men's short track speed skating 500-metre final by passing the race leader, Rusty Smith of the U.S., with less than half a lap to go. Teammate Jonathan Guilmette of Montreal made a dramatic move of his own to go ahead of the fading Smith with just a few strides remaining to take the silver medal. The American managed to hang on for bronze.
Less than an hour later, the personable Gagnon, 26, anchored the Canadian men's 5,000-metre relay team to gold. The two wins give Gagnon five Olympic medals, three gold and two bronze, the most by a Canadian in the Winter Olympics. Gagnon has three medals at these Games alone, having won a bronze in the men's 1,500 last week.
"You have to find a dream to work for, that's what I did," said Gagnon, who dropped out of the sport for two years after the Nagano Olympics. "I felt I wasn't finished in short track speed skating. That's why I came back. I worked for three years (for this).
"It shows people that if you have a dream it can come true."
Gagnon crossed the finish line in the 500 in 41.802 seconds, an Olympic record, while Guilmette was 41.994, and Smith 42.027.
Gagnon, he of the dyed-blond hair, is Canada's most-celebrated short track speed skater, winning his first world title in 1993 and capturing the 1,500-metre crown at the world championships last year in Seoul, Korea.
He was a member of the 1998 Canadian gold-medal winning relay squad in Nagano and a bronze medallist in the 1,000 at the 1994 Lillehammer Games. He captured overall gold at the world championships in 1993, '94, '96 and '98.
But one prize eluded him, an individual Olympic gold. Of course, he was one happy skater last night.
"It's the end of a journey," he said. "I just still can't believe it. I've been in the final in the 500 for the past two Games. I fell twice. I came here and I still had that in my mind before the final. I just got over it and skated as hard as I could."
Gagnon had not realized that his teammate had the silver until Guilmette skated over and told him.
"He said, 'Hey man, we're first and second.' It was just perfect. We were two Canadians skating in the final and all we could hope for was first and second and we did it," he said.
"Actually, he said he loved me," Guilmette, said, laughing.
Gagnon qualified for the final in dramatic fashion by coming from all the way back in the semi and passing Korean star Dong-Sung Kim right at the finish line, by a skate.
The second semi was even more dramatic. Guilmette moved into first with two laps to go and held on to the lead. About midway through the race, American Apolo Anton Ohno interfered with Japan's Satoru Terao, who crashed to the ice. Ohno, who already won two medals here, was disqualified, although he finished third and out of the final no matter what happened.
Guilmette, 23, is expected to lead the strong Canadian team in the years leading up to the 2006 Turin Games.
The Montreal native brought home two medals from the 2001 world championships in Seoul -- a second in the 500 and a third in the 3,000.
Guilmette burst on to the international scene at the 1996 world juniors with five medals, including a first in the super 1,500. He started skating at six. His dad, Andre, was a team physiotherapist at the 1998 Nagano Games.
"This is a lifetime achievement for me," said Guilmette, who suffered a serious back injury at a World Cup in Nobeyama, Japan during the 2000-01 season. "I was hard to come back from this injury. It's amazing."
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2002 Games Short Track Speed Skating Coverage
