Marianne St-Gelais | “There, it’s no longer just me”

Marianne St-Gelais felt bad about being about fifteen minutes late. Noah, snug in the baby carrier, wakes up every two hours these days. She wanted to breastfeed him so that Dad Raphaël wouldn’t get into trouble during the interview on Thursday morning.

After the photos, the autumn sun was still good enough for us to choose to sit on the terrace of a café in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, our old neighborhood. Before she could even sit down, she ran into Sébastien Cros, her ex-trainer who coached making his debut for the Canadian team at the age of 17.

“When Marianne arrived, we were negotiating training,” said the man who is assistant head coach of the Canadian team. That’s the program. “Oh no, I don’t do that.” OK, let’s talk. We negotiated everything, everything, everything.

— I was the only one of his 14 athletes who negotiated, added the main interested party. It was my recipe, it scared me, it was too much.

— After three years, for example, one should not miss and training,” Cros said.

In 2010, St-Gelais won two medals at the Vancouver Olympic Games, including silver in the 500 meters on his 20th birthday.

“When I was an athlete, I didn’t care, but looking back, I say to myself: let’s see, I’m not the only one to win a medal! »

Maybe not, but rarely has a medal had such resonance in the Quebec and Canadian sporting world over the last 20 years. The young woman from Saint-Félicien “là-là” was instantly adopted by the public, a bond that continues six years after her retirement. My cousin Steve, a proud Mobility Squad patrolman whom I met by chance before the interview, congratulated her on her performance as if she was still skating.

Although his three Olympic podiums and more than 100 international medals speak for themselves, Speed ​​Skating Canada undoubtedly wanted to highlight his broader impact by admitting him into its hall of fame on Saturday, on the sidelines of the very first stage of the new World Circuit where she will be an analyst for -.

When she received the call last summer, Marianne St-Gelais, 34, found that this tribute came quickly.

“It’s a great honor because we don’t count our hours. Basically, it was my job for years. I represented my country and I was proud of it. You do it without expecting recognition. I feel very pampered and I’m very happy that they thought of me. I had to bring something to the sport, ultimately. »

Leaving the second family

For St-Gelais, this induction is a way to reconnect with a family she has been part of for more than a decade.

“Speed ​​Skating Canada is my gang. When you retire, your gang closes, and it’s not pejorative. That’s what performance is like. It rolls. Are you leaving? Perfect, you’re replaced, get on with your life and we’ll move on. It hurts a little. Ayoye, I’m not in there anymore, really not anymore, I’m not counted as a member of the team at all. To receive this [l’intronisation]it’s like you’re part of the gang. »

St-Gelais experienced a second break since she spent two years as a coach at the Canadian Regional Center at the Maurice-Richard arena. She was so good that Cros and Marc Gagnon offered her to join them as a coach in the national team.

But she had already made her decision to return home to Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, to find its wide open spaces, its spirit of fraternity, her parents, her two sisters and her brother.

Passing through Quebec, so to speak, she met Raphaël Maheux, a former Remparts defender, who participated in a Colorado Avalanche camp and who today plays for the Marquis de Jonquière, in the North League. American, when he is not working as a mortgage broker.

“I told him: I’m going to Saguenay, I’m not going to Quebec for you! », she recounted while the main person concerned, smiling, listened to the interview with Noé nestled against her chest.

“He’s six years younger than me, it’s not going to work.” I don’t want little kids, I’m ready to start a family. I was really self-sabotaging, but Raphaël is very easy going. He was like: Hey, girl, I didn’t ask you to marry me. We’ll see each other, we’ll have a good time together, we’ll see where it takes us. »

Noah was born on May 9, two weeks ahead of schedule. “A sprinter, like me! »

Marianne St-Gelais had imagined a scenario where Raphaël, who knew the gender from the ultrasound, revealed it to her by presenting the baby to her. Ultimately, she gave birth by emergency cesarean section (he had rolled over before the push). The mother’s memories are therefore blurry.

“Luckily there’s a photo!” It was Raphaël who told me, but at the same time, his little balls appeared on the top ! All this brings emotions because your plan is turned upside down. After that, it’s a big high. You don’t know him, you don’t understand him. It wasn’t the birth I wanted, but it was a good birth nonetheless. »

To “break the isolation a little and get out of the house”, she participates in the weekly meetings of a mothers’ group. When Noé turned from his back to his stomach for the first time, she had to contain her enthusiasm so as not to disturb the dynamic of the discussion, settling for a text message to the dad.

“Fulfilled”, the new mother experiences emotions different from those experienced in sport. “It’s a source of pride,” said the woman who will return to her job as morning co-host at Rythme 98.3 at the end of her maternity leave in April.

“You say to yourself: My God, I did that. You love him and at the same time you are afraid. We are fearful because we want nothing to happen to them. It’s very mixed. It’s not fair: I win a medal. Because I was very selfish, very self-centered. It was me, I was going there, to achieve this. There, it’s no longer just me. »

It will be for a short while, Saturday, when she will be presented to the crowd at the Maurice-Richard arena, which was her home for 10 years. It will be like a family reunion for Marianne St-Gelais, now immortal.