François DROLET

François Drolet was a hockey player for a decade prior to getting a late start in the world of short track speed skating at the age of 15, influenced by a younger cousin. He made his international debut at the 1995 Universiade, where he took home two bronze medals, and was recruited to the Canadian national team several weeks after the tournament, although he spoke little English at the time. He had a strong lead up to his first (and only) Winter Olympic Games in 1998: he won gold and silver medals at the 1996 World Championships, in the team and 5,000m relay events respectively, and another relay silver at the 1997 edition. He qualified for the 500m individual, 1,000m individual, and 5,000m relay competitions at the 1998 Winter Olympics and took home gold with his team in the latter event. He retired from active competition after the Olympics, choosing to focus on earning his business degree from the University of Laval. He was an advisor with team Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics.