Q&A MARIANNE ST-GELAIS
Q Any comforts from home that you take with you when you’re travelling?
A I bring a little bit of food, but I bring my own slippers because my grandma made them. There’s holes in them because they’re really old, but I don’t want to put them in the garbage because my grandma passed away, so I can’t throw them away. I’m travelling with them and I’m just really close to my family — they’re a really big part of my success and my journey to the Games — so I’m bringing every single part of my family that I can.
Q South Korea’s Shim Suk-hee, Kim Ji-Yoo and Choi Min-Jeong are often on the podium. How tough will they be to beat in their home country?
A They are putting a lot of energy to win, since Sochi wasn’t a good Games for the Koreans. Speedskating is a national sport, so everything is going to be set for them. Shim Suk-hee is actually from Pyeongchang, so a lot of cheers will be for her, a lot of fans. But you know what? They’re not unbeatable. We had great Worlds, I’ve beaten all of them at Worlds, so I feel like we just have to trust what we do, trust our instincts, we have to be sharp and smart in the race. They’ll be there for sure, they’ll be strong, but we all want the same goal, the gold medal. We’re going to fight for it and I’m ready to go to war.
Q Charles Hamelin — a Canadian Olympic gold medallist in men’s short track — told us you’re going to get married Aug. 4, 2018?
A We haven’t decided the date yet! The fourth was there, the 18th was there because I thought it’s 18 of 8/18, whoa. That’s a lot of eight. So we’re not sure about the fourth, but close. In August for sure.