(Montreal) Two-time Olympic medalist Pascal Dion has made the decision to hang up his skates and retire from the Canadian Short Track Speed Skating Team program following a 10-year career on the ladder international.
Dion, who is 29, helped Canada win gold in the 5,000m relay at the 2022 Beijing Games, alongside Charles Hamelin, Steven Dubois, Jordan Pierre-Gilles and Maxime Laoun. He was also part of the relay team that won the bronze medal in PyeongChang in 2018, when he found himself on the podium with Hamelin, Samuel Girard and Charle Cournoyer.
“I didn’t find the decision to retire too difficult because it was truly my decision and I was at this point in my career,” Dion said in a statement. It’s been a while – at least a year and a half – that I’ve had difficulty finding long-term goals in sport.
“I still love skating, but doing it at a competitive level and giving 100% in training is another thing,” he added.
Dion made his debut on the World Cup circuit in 2015 and has won a total of 36 career medals (15 gold, 11 silver, 10 bronze), including 12 in individual events (2 gold, 6 silver, 4 bronze).
He has also reached the podium at the World Championships five times throughout his career, including being crowned runner-up to his team in Montreal in 2022 after winning silver in the 1500m as well as bronze in the relay 5000m, in addition to finishing first in the 3000m Super Final.
The Montrealer will continue his studies in finance at the John Molson School of Management at Concordia University in the hope of one day working in the financial world.