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“Air Canada is very pleased that Charles has been chosen to receive the Air Canada Athlete of the Year Award for 2013. He exemplifies the leadership, dedication and commitment to excellence the award celebrates and it is clear Canadians recognize his hard work and talent,” said Craig Landry, vice president of marketing at Air Canada. “As a sponsor of the Canadian Olympic Team, we take great pride in our association with all of our Olympic athletes and also congratulate slopestyle snowboarder Mark McMorris and bobsledder Kaillie Humphries who were the runners-up for this award. Additionally, we thank the tens of thousands of Canadians who took time to vote for their favourite athlete in our national poll.”
Charles Hamelin was a double gold medalist at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Based on his experience and accomplishments, he is considered one of the leaders of the national team. Charles started speed skating at the age of nine and is now recognized as a multiple gold medal winner, who has been competing at the senior world championship level for almost a decade.
The number of medals and world titles Charles has won reflects his dominance in the field of short track speed skating. In addition to his 2010 Olympic performance, he also won a silver medal in Turin 2006, and has several world championship titles from 2005 to 2013.
Nominees for the Air Canada Athlete of the Year Award were chosen after an in-depth analysis of a lengthy list of winter sport athletes by a nomination committee. The list of more than 50 athletes was arrived at by assigning point values to podium finishes in the previous year’s competition season. These athletes were then considered and debated by the nomination committee with three finalists selected to be voted on by Canadians between Nov. 20 and Dec. 6. The nominating committee consisted of representatives from Air Canada, the CBC, the Federal Government, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the athlete community and last year’s winner, soccer player Christine Sinclair. The winner receives two complimentary Business Class tickets to anywhere in the world Air Canada flies as well as Altitude Super Elite status for one year.
