Marc Gagnon
Template:Short description Template:Infobox speed skater
Marc Gagnon (born May 24, 1975) is a Canadian former short track speed skater. He is a four-time Overall World Champion for 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1998, and winner of three Olympic gold medals.
Biography
Born in Chicoutimi, Quebec,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gagnon started his Olympic career in 1994, when he had already won the 1993 World Championships. He won a bronze in the 1000 m event. Four years later, in Nagano, Japan, Gagnon won a gold medal with the Canadian relay team. The 2002 Salt Lake City Games proved to be Gagnon's best Olympics, with a total of three medals. A bronze in the inaugural 1500 m event, and two golds; in the 500 m and again as a part of the relay team. Even his disqualification in the 1000 m was memorable, as it was the first of an improbable series of events that led to Australian Steven Bradbury winning arguably the most unlikely gold medal in Olympic history.
Winning a total of five medals in three consecutive Winter Games made him the most decorated Canadian athlete in Winter Olympic history until 2006. He has now been overtaken by long track speed skater Cindy Klassen, long track speed skater Clara Hughes and short track speed skater Charles Hamelin, who each have a total of 6 medals. Tied with track and field athlete Phil Edwards and fellow short track speed skater François-Louis Tremblay,<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> he is one of the five most decorated Canadian athletes in all Olympic Games.
Gagnon won his World Championships in 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1998. He is the first man to have become a four-time Overall World Champion. In addition, he finished 2nd twice, and third once.
In 2007, Gagnon was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
References
External links
Template:NavigationWorldChampionsShortTrackMen Template:Footer Olympic Champions 500m Short Track Speed Skating Men Template:Footer Olympic Champions 5000m Relay Short Track Speed Skating Mens
- 1975 births
- Living people
- Canadian male speed skaters
- Canadian male short-track speed skaters
- Olympic gold medalists for Canada
- Olympic bronze medalists for Canada
- Olympic short-track speed skaters for Canada
- Olympic medalists in short-track speed skating
- Short-track speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics
- Short-track speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics
- Short-track speed skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics
- Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics
- Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics
- Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics
- Sportspeople from Saguenay, Quebec
- 20th-century Canadian sportsmen
- World Short Track Speed Skating Championships medalists