Samuel Girard rides his sweet tooth to historic gold medal in PyeongChang

One would assume the off-ice training regiment of the first Canadian speedskater to capture Olympic 1,000-metre gold would be strict, grueling, and not for the faint of heart.

However, for someone in the elite level of his sport like Samuel Girard, the pillars of his diet and nutrition plan will come as a bit of a surprise to most. The man loves his sweets, and he doesn’t care who knows it.

“I’m the guy who all the teammates are like ‘dude, you’re drinking a Pepsi now. … oh, you’re drinking another one,'” Girard said. “I’m just the kind of guy who’s always eating a lot of desserts. I don’t have any preferred meals, but for sure I need a dessert at the end of the day.

“I really love brownies.”

Whatever benefits his sugar-based diet provide have been on full display in PyeongChang, where he secured the first gold medal of his Olympic career in a sport the South Koreans — who have won five of the eight gold medals in the event’s history — have dominated.

The 21-year-old will be gunning for another medal in the Men’s 500-metre this week.