Olympian Marie-Eve Drolet’s short-track career a series of comebacks

Drolet has embarked on yet another comeback. She raced for the first time in over two years Friday at the season-opening World Cup in Calgary.

Her most recent hiatus was for motherhood. Drolet gave birth to Zoey in January, 2015.

The 34-year-old from Saguenay, Que., posted the fastest qualifying time in her first race Friday — the 1,500 metres — with Zoey and husband Corey Crysler at the Olympic Oval to witness her return to the international stage.

“The old feelings that I used to love, it’s still the same,” Drolet said. “It’s a passion, right? I love challenges and this was a big one.”

Her last race prior to Friday was the 2014 world championships in Montreal less than a month after the closing ceremonies in Sochi.

In addition to booking a berth in Saturday’s 1,500-metre semifinals, she’ll also race in the 500-metre quarter-finals.

Charle Cournoyer of Boucherville, Que., Francois Hamelin of Sainte-Julie, Que., Montreal’s Dion Pascal and Kim Boutin of Sherbrooke Que., also advanced to the 1,500-metre semifinals with finals to follow later Saturday.

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Charles Hamelin of Sainte-Julie and triple silver-medallist Marianne St-Gelais of Saint-Felicien, Que., each advanced to the quarter-finals of the 500 and the 1,000.

Pascal, Francois Hamelin, Toronto’s William Preudomme, Sam Girard of Ferland-et-Boillot, Que., Jamie MacDonald of Fort St. James, B.C., and Kasandra Bradette of Saint-Felicien all moved onto the 500-metre quarter-finals.

Boutin, Cournoyer, Girard and Valerie Maltais of Saguenay qualified for Sunday’s 1,000-metre quarter-finals. The Canadian men’s and women’s relay squads also advanced to Saturday’s semifinals.

Canadian trampolinist Karen Cockburn and hockey player Meaghan Mikkelson both said a reason they wanted to continue in their sport after pregnancy was to give their child the experience of having a high-performance athlete for a mom.

Drolet feels the same way. Even though Zoey isn’t yet two, she knows her mother is fast on skates.

“I will be able to tell her ‘you were there,’” Drolet said. “I love the fact that she’ll be able to see me.

“When I say ‘mommy’s going skating’ she says ‘fast, fast, fast’ and in French too ‘vite, vite, vite.’”

The competition and camaraderie with her Canadian teammates, feeling strong and fast, and the validation she feels after a great race also keep bringing her back to the short-track oval.

“I like to be in shape and having that program of training every day twice a day,” Drolet said. “It’s super challenging and fun, going from sucking and then getting so good at it.”

Drolet’s passion for the sport and her capacity for a heavy workload accelerated her comeback, says Canadian women’s coach Fred Blackburn.

“Not many people believed in the comeback of Marie-Eve, but everybody said ‘if someone can do that, it’s Marie-Eve,’” the coach said. “For me, Marie-Eve was born with skates on her feet.

“She likes to train. Sometimes when you don’t like to train, but you like to compete and win, it’s tougher to make a comeback. She loves to skate. When you love something, it’s easy to do it.”

Drolet intends to make the 2018 Winter Games Pyeongchang, South Korea, her Olympic swan song. She’ll be 36 and Drolet wants to give Zoey a sibling.

She doesn’t get as much rest and recovery from training and racing now that she’s a mom.

“I don’t have time to have a nap which most athletes have between two training (sessions),” Drolet said.

“Then when I come back from training in the afternoon, I have a whole routine to do with my kid. It’s busy, but I also really love it.”

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Olympian Marie-Eve Drolet’s short-track career a series of comebacks

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