A hockey player since childhood, Lemieux signed on with the NHLUs Pittsburgh Penguins at the age of 16. Then, at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, he captained the Canadian hockey team, leading them in their gold medal-winning victory.
Hockey has been a part of Mario Lemieux's life since his childhood. At the age of six he was holding his own against boys four years older; by the time he was sixteen, he had captured the attention of the National Hockey league, and soon after signed on with NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. At the 2002 Olympic Winter Games he captained the Canadian hockey team, leading them in their gold medal winning performance.