Frédéric BLACKBURN

Frédéric Blackburn knew that he wanted to be a short track speed skater since the age of five, but would have to wait for over a decade before he was selected to represent his country internationally. He joined Team Canada in 1990 and two years later he was selected to represent his country at the 1992 Winter Olympics, where he took home silver medals in the 5,000m relay and the 1,000m events. He returned to the Winter Olympics in 1994, but did not reach the podium in any of the events that he took part in: the 500m, the 1,000m and the 5,000m relay. Later that year, however, he captured a gold medal at the World Championships in the 500m. After his retirement he worked for several years as the production manager for Apex Racing Skates, a company that develops and markets skates to over twenty countries, alongside teammate Mathieu Turcotte among others. He made an attempt to revive his speed skating career in 2002 but could not perform at his previous level, due to hip troubles caused by an earlier skating injury, and retired for good in 2005, returning to Apex early in the year and later pursuing a career in coaching. As of 2009 he was working with the Montreal-International Skating Club, as well as maintaining his position with Apex.