Quebec speedskater drills into a new career
When Alexandre St-jean was a speedskating dental student, his divergent goals and lifestyles blended into a workable amalgamation.
Studying while training and competing is difficult but doable if you want it enough and if logistical and moral support is offered by family, friends, coaches and instructors. Together, they all made it work for him for several years.
To separate one world from the other then, as St-jean did earlier this summer by retiring from skating to begin practising at a dental clinic in Sainte-foy, Que., is to extract a piece of himself. Like a wisdom tooth, perhaps.
“It wasn't the easiest decision to make, you know. I've been skating since I was five years old and I really love it,” he said on Wednesday.
Now 27 and two years removed from accomplishing one of his goals by competing at the 2018
Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, where he finished 11th in the 1,000 metres, he wanted one more chance at the podium before putting his athletic career on ice.
“My goal was to come back to the Olympics in 2022 and I don't want to just compete, I want to really have a shot for a medal. It was realistic for me to believe I could do it because we were going to have a new rink in my hometown of Quebec City, so it was going to be way easier for us to train there.
“But because of COVID, the delivery date for the rink has been postponed for a year. We're supposed to be able to train and race in it right now, but we won't have it for another year, at least,” he said of the Centre de Glace, which was delayed by construction shutdowns during the pandemic and is now expected to open in September 2021.
“For me that was the game-changer. I knew that realistically speaking it wasn't possible to aim for an Olympic medal without a rink to train in. I think I could see the big picture. COVID, I hope it's going to be gone in a year, but you don't know.”
He wasn't prepared to move to Calgary to train at the oval there, so he pulled the plug and notified Speed Skating Canada of his decision about a month ago.
St-jean, who started as a shorttrack skater, leaves his sport with five long track World Cup medals; a silver in the 500 metres, as well as three gold and a silver as a team sprint competitor.
“The silver in the 500 metres in Inzell, Germany, that was my best performance ever,” he said.
“All the best skaters were there. But I think my biggest achievement for me was going to the Olympics, for sure. Everyone wants to be at the Olympics, and everyone wants to be at their best at the Olympics.”
It was, as he said, one of his goals. He is driven by them and believes that might be the biggest adjustment to life in a dental clinic.
“My athlete mindset is still there. I don't know if it's going to go away one day. I don't think so. I like to compete. I like to be the best. I like to set big goals and want to achieve them.
“The adjustment is going to be that the goals are going to be different and the way to reach these goals will be different, too. But the mindset is still there.”
He says he doesn't think he'll change much as a dentist.
“I'm going to keep living the way I live, a lot of sports, outdoor activities, like hikes.
“Maybe add a bit more travelling.”