MONTREAL — William Dandjinou was turning heads among short-track speedskating legends long before he started picking up gold medals on the world stage.
Six-time Olympic medallist Charles Hamelin predicted the Montreal product would be gliding past rivals years ago — and was confident Canada's future was in good hands when he retired in 2022.
"I told people it's not gonna be long before the next generation comes up, and the first name up was William Dandjinou," Hamelin said. "I knew he was coming strong. I knew he was good."
The 23-year-old Dandjinou is living up to lofty expectations after breaking out last season and winning world championship gold in the men's 1,000 metres.
The two-time reigning national champion is off to a hot start this season with two individual podium-topping performances at a World Tour event in his hometown last weekend.
At six-foot-three, Dandjinou towers above the competition and often celebrates by crossing the finish line with his arms raised like a bird — a personal trademark. Last weekend, when he anchored Canada to relay gold, he celebrated with the "Night, Night" gesture popularized by NBA superstar Steph Curry.
Dandjinou looks like an early contender for the 2026 Olympics as he vies for more hardware this weekend at a second World Tour stop in Montreal.
"I'm seeing the evolution of when he started on the national team with me five years ago," said Hamelin, now a part-time coach with Canada's NextGen athletes.
"I'm not surprised to see him get those results right now, but I am surprised how strong he is compared to the rest of the field … so (far) ahead of everyone in every distance."
Dandjinou learned to skate at two years old because his father, an immigrant from the Ivory Coast, felt it was important for his son to participate in Canadian winter sports.
He fell in love with speedskating during the 2006 Turin Olympics. He still has faint memories of seeing himself in African-American long-track star Shani Davis and being inspired by U.S. short-track legend Apolo Ohno.
Dandjinou rose through the ranks quickly after finding provincial success at 12, starting with his recruitment to the Regional Training Centre in Laval, Que. He joined Canada's NextGen short-track squad before making the national team in 2019.
While the 2022 Games were Hamelin's last of five Olympics, Dandjinou hoped they would be his first. However, he narrowly missed a spot on Canada’s team during qualification and was designated as a reserve.
"It was very hard, because I had never experienced such a big disappointment," he said. "I almost stopped. I had two weeks where it was during the season and I was supposed to skate, and I just completely stopped skating."
"He was just sad, mad, unhappy, and wanted to quit," added Canadian head coach Marc Gagnon, a five-time Olympic medallist.
Gagnon and Hamelin were among several mentors who encouraged Dandjinou to view the setback as just one hurdle in what could be a long, successful career.
"It gave me motivation to just continue and try to figure out what I really like about skating, and not just the results, because the Olympics just happen once every four years,” Dandjinou said. "If you're concentrating on the Olympics every day, and then that doesn't happen. You're like, well, I'm wasting my time."
Hamelin said Dandjinou came back on a mission.
"Sometimes an athlete needs an electroshock," he said. "He wanted to put the energy and the effort to do everything he could do, off ice and on ice, to become the greatest skater of his generation.”
Off the ice, Dandjinou enjoys reading, playing chess, and studying. The son of two microbiologists, he is finishing his last semester of CEGEP in sciences at Maisonneuve College and has ambitions of pursuing law.
He aspires to dominate speedskating beyond the oval by changing the game and growing the sport, which he believes is more accessible and affordable than hockey and skiing. That’s why he embraces being a showman at the finish line.
"We're in great need of that in most amateur sports," he said. "We're not encouraged as much as professional sports to showcase who we are … we're not making millions here.
"But if you want the sport to grow and to have the fans interact with us, we have to show our emotions."
As for his performance on the ice, Gagnon believes Dandjinou can be a top skater for years.
"It's just gonna come down to his head: if he still wants it, if he has the work ethic that he has right now,” he said. “Because at this very moment for me, Will has not finished progressing physically. He can still improve.”
From what he's seen, Hamelin doesn't believe there's any risk of Dandjinou letting up.
"Never backs down, never gives up, never thinks that he's better than everyone. That's the key of success," Hamelin said. "He will be a good leader in the future for the team."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2024.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press