Women
CAN
Alyson Charles
CAN- Date of birth30 Oct 1998
- Height174 CM
- ProfessionAthlete, Student
- HometownMontreal
- Place of birthMontreal
- Start skating Club She began skating at age five, and started competing at age six at the CPV Montreal St-Michel club in Quebec, Canada. Patinage de Vitesse St-Michel: Montreal, QC, CAN
- HobbiesN/A
- LanguagesCreole, English, French
- Other nameAly (isu.org, 19 Feb 2019)
- CoachN/A
- ChoreographerN/A
- Former CoachN/A
- Practice low seasonN/A
- Practice high seasonN/A
- General Interest
- Sport Specific Information
She was part of the first Canadian women's 3000m relay team to win gold at the junior world championships with their victory at the 2018 edition of the tournament in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland. (SportsDeskOnline, 09 Nov 2022; speedskating.ca, 2022)
"Adversity causes some men to break, others to break records." [William Arthur Ward] (Athlete, 05 Dec 2019)
Canadian short track skater Kalyna Roberge, US sprinter Allyson Felix. (Athlete, 05 Dec 2019)
Her father. (Athlete, 05 Dec 2019)
Finishing on top of the podium at a World Cup event for the first time by winning the 1000m in 2018 in Salt Lake City, UT, United States of America. (Athlete, 05 Dec 2019)
BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT
She won two individual bronze medals and another bronze in the 3000m relay on her World Cup debut in 2018 in Calgary, AB, Canada. She says the event was among the most important moments of her career. "In 2018, the retirement of a handful of veterans following the Pyeongchang [Olympic Winter] Games left room for new faces [on the Canadian team], including my own. My debut on the international senior circuit exceeded all my expectations. My junior years were just coming to an end and I was coming in with several recent disappointments on a personal level. Nevertheless, this is where everything clicked. These medals proved to me that I deserved to be there. While the Olympic Games had always been a lifelong dream for me, it was in Calgary that I really believed I could make it for the first time. It was at that moment that my Olympic dream became an attainable goal." (olympic.ca, 25 Feb 2021)
FAMILY BACKGROUND
In 1987 her father Ralph emigrated from Saint-Marc, Haiti, to Montreal, QC, Canada, at age 15 with his mother and six siblings. They made the move after his father [Alyson's grandfather] died in a car accident. "If it can inspire at least one young person in the Haitian community, I would be happy. My dream was first born when I watched Kalyna Roberge on our family's living room TV at the Turin 2006 Olympic Games. I immediately saw myself in her, because even though I was born and raised here in Montreal, I am of Haitian descent and like Kalyna, I am biracial. If I have a role to play as a black athlete, I would say it's to share my passion and my experiences with the youth in my community. I hope to be a model they can one day identify with, like Kalyna was for me when I was younger." (olympic.ca, 25 Feb 2021; journaldequebec.com, 09 Nov 2019)
She won two individual bronze medals and another bronze in the 3000m relay on her World Cup debut in 2018 in Calgary, AB, Canada. She says the event was among the most important moments of her career. "In 2018, the retirement of a handful of veterans following the Pyeongchang [Olympic Winter] Games left room for new faces [on the Canadian team], including my own. My debut on the international senior circuit exceeded all my expectations. My junior years were just coming to an end and I was coming in with several recent disappointments on a personal level. Nevertheless, this is where everything clicked. These medals proved to me that I deserved to be there. While the Olympic Games had always been a lifelong dream for me, it was in Calgary that I really believed I could make it for the first time. It was at that moment that my Olympic dream became an attainable goal." (olympic.ca, 25 Feb 2021)
FAMILY BACKGROUND
In 1987 her father Ralph emigrated from Saint-Marc, Haiti, to Montreal, QC, Canada, at age 15 with his mother and six siblings. They made the move after his father [Alyson's grandfather] died in a car accident. "If it can inspire at least one young person in the Haitian community, I would be happy. My dream was first born when I watched Kalyna Roberge on our family's living room TV at the Turin 2006 Olympic Games. I immediately saw myself in her, because even though I was born and raised here in Montreal, I am of Haitian descent and like Kalyna, I am biracial. If I have a role to play as a black athlete, I would say it's to share my passion and my experiences with the youth in my community. I hope to be a model they can one day identify with, like Kalyna was for me when I was younger." (olympic.ca, 25 Feb 2021; journaldequebec.com, 09 Nov 2019)
She trains six days a week at the National Training Centre in Montreal, QC, Canada.
"My parents wanted me to do something so they registered me at my local club with my cousins. A few years later, I found myself at the Canadian Regional Training Centre, whose mission is to train the next generation of elite skaters. In the summer of 2016, I made the jump to the national team."
