Josée Grand'Maître (born July 28, 1961) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...

player from

Hull, Quebec Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of the Canadia ...

(now

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

). Grand'Maître won the Canadian Women's Singles title three times, and the Canadian Women's Doubles title 15 times. Her last title came in doubles in May 2014 with

Jennifer Saunders Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School of ...

as her partner. Grand'Maître's 15 doubles titles are the most ever, and her 18 combined titles place her third on the all time list behind

Saunders Saunders is a surname of English and Scottish patronymic origin derived from Sander, a mediaeval form of Alexander.See also: Sander (name) People * Ab Saunders (1851–1883), American cowboy and gunman * Al Saunders (born 1947), American footb ...

(20) and Mike Green (21).

Canadian career

Grand'Maître was Canadian Women's Singles Champion three times: in 1996, 1999, and 2001. Her first title in 1996 came over

Christie Van Hees Christie Van Hees (born July 5, 1977) is a Canadian retired racquetball player. Van Hees won two World Championships in women's singles and was the number one women's professional player at the end of the 2004-2005 season. Professional career ...

, while in 1999 Grand'Maître defeated Lucie Guillemette, who was also her doubles partner that year. In the 2001, she defeated

. She was the Canadian Women's Doubles Champion on 15 occasions with six different playing partners. Grand'Maître's most successful partnership was with

, as they won ten titles together, including five consecutive titles from 2003 to 2007, as well as wins in 2009, and 2011 to 2014. Grand'Maître's other five doubles titles were with five different partners. Her first title was in 1990 with Nadia Verilli, when they defeated Linda Ellerington and Lori Johnstone. In 1993, Grand'Maître teamed with Vicki Shanks to win the title over Johnstone and Debbie Ward. She won the next year with Carol McFetridge, as they beat Lucie Guillemette and Cindy MacTaggart. In 1998, Grand'Maître partnered with Guillemette to beat Shanks and Ward in the final. Finally, in the 2001 final Grand'Maître and

Lori-Jane Powell Lori Jane Powell (November 8, 1971 – November 18, 2021) was a Canadian racquetball player from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Powell was Pan American Champion twice (1 singles & 1 doubles title) and Canadian Champion five times (three singles & ...

defeated Amanda MacDonald and Karina Odegard to take the title.

International career

Grand'Maître has competed for Canada on 37 occasions, which is the most by any Canadian racquetball player. She's earned two silver medals in singles. Her first was at the 2001 Pan American Championships (then Tournament of the Americas), when she defeated American Kersten Hallander in the semi-finals before losing to American

Cheryl Gudinas Cheryl Gudinas (born May 11, 1967) is an American retired racquetball player. Gudinas won three ww.internationalracquetball.com International Racquetball Federation(IRF) World Championships in Women’s Singles (2000, 2002, 2004), and was the #1 ...

in the final. The following year, Grand'Maître beat American

Rhonda Rajsich Rhonda Rajsich (born October 7, 1978) is an American racquetball player. She has been World Champion in Women's Singles twice, and Pan American Champion 6 times (4 times in Women's Singles & twice in Women's Doubles), as well as US Open champi ...

in the semi-finals of the Pan American Championships only to lose to American

Laura Fenton Laura Fenton (born June 28, 1962) is an American racquetball player. She won two World Championships in doubles, and finished in the top 10 on the Women's Professional Racquetball Organization rankings seven times in her career. Professional ca ...

in the final. Grand'Maître was a silver medalist in her first three appearances at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. She played doubles in each of those tournaments and reached the finals in 1988 with Nadia Verilli, 1990 and 1992 with Vicky Shanks (née Brown). She also reached the doubles final in 1998 with Debbie Ward. Most recently, Grand'Maître was a bronze medalist in doubles with

Frédérique Lambert Frédérique Lambert (born March 27, 1992) is a Canadian racquetball player. Lambert is the current Canadian Champion in Women's Singles and Women's Doubles, and has won seven Canadian Championships: four in Women's Singles and three in Women's ...

at the 2012 World Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as they reached the semi-finals but lost to eventual champions

Paola Longoria Paola Michelle Longoria López (born July 20, 1989) is a Mexican racquetball player. She is the current Women's World Champion in both Singles and Doubles, winning both divisions at the 2022 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champ ...

and

Samantha Salas Samantha Salas Solís (born December 15, 1986) is a Mexican racquetball player. Salas is the current World Champion in both Women's Doubles - winning that title for a fifth time with Paola Longoria at the 2022 World Championships in San Luis P ...

. She was also part of the Canadian women's team that got bronze in the team event in 2012. Grand'Maître played both singles and doubles (with Vicki Shanks) at the 1994 Pan American Championships (then Tournament of the Americas) and got bronze and silver, respectively. In the 1998 Pan Am Championships, Grand'Maître was a silver medalist in doubles with Debbie Ward. She also played doubles at the Pan Am Championships the next year, in 1999, but with Lucie Guillemette as her partner, and they were bronze medalists. Grand'Maître was a bronze medalist at the 2002 World Championships in singles, as she lost to American

in the semi-finals. She played doubles with

at the next World Championships in 2004, when they got bronze medals after losing in the semi-finals to Mexicans

Susana Acosta Susana Acosta (born 8 December 1976) is a Mexican racquetball player. Acosta has won several gold medals for Mexico, including at the 2003 Pan Am Games and the 2014 Pan Am Championships. She's also played professionally, with career high rankin ...

and Rosy Torres. In the 2003 Pan American Championships, Grand'Maître lost to Fenton in the semi-finals, resulting in a bronze medal. Grand'Maître was a bronze medalist at the 2006

in doubles with

, as they lost to Chileans

Angela Grisar Angela Grisar (born May 2, 1973) is a Chilean retired racquetball player. She was the first South American woman's racquetball player to finish in the top 10 on the women's pro tour, doing so six straight seasons (2003-04 to 2008-09). She won nu ...

and Fabiola Marquez. That year the Canadian women's team took silver, and Grand'Maître and Powell won their match in the final against Americans

and

Aimee Ruiz Aimee Ruiz (born February 12, 1975) is a left-handed American racquetball player. She is a three time Women's Doubles World Champion, and a 13 timUSA RacquetballChampion in Women's Doubles, most recently winning the title in 2020 with Erika Manill ...

. Grand'Maître may be the only player to participate in the first four

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

that included

. She was a bronze medalist at the 2003 Pan Am Games with Julie Neubauer, but also played singles in the 1996 Pan Am Games (losing in the quarter finals to

), singles at the 1999 Pan Am Games, and doubles at the

2011 Pan Am Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán ...

with Brandi Jacobson Prentice. Grand'Maître also played at the

2009 World Games The 2009 World Games () the eighth edition of the World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (under the name Chinese Taipei) from 16 July 2009 to 26 July 2009. The games featured sports that are not contested i ...

Professional career

Grand'Maître did not play many tournaments on the women's pro tour, so she was never ranked in the Top 10. But she did make the semi-finals of the 2009 Miami tournament, when she defeated Kerri Wachtel in the Round of 16 and then Diane Moore in the quarter finals before losing to

in the semi-finals.

Personal

Grand'Maître lives in

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...

Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

and works at the Canadian Olympic Committee. She has worked for 17 years at the Institut national du sport du Québec based in Montreal. She has an undergraduate degree in kinesiology and a certificate in administration from the University of Ottawa. Grand'Maître is married to Michel Gagnon, one of Canada's national team coaches, and they have one son together, Mathieu Grand'Maître, and she is also a step mother to racquetball player

Vincent Gagnon Vincent Gagnon (born September 5, 1981) is a Canadian retired racquetball player from Montreal. Gagnon won five Canadian Championships: four doubles titles and one singles. He also competed for Canada 19 times, winning multiple medals highlighted ...

References

External links

Canadian Olympic Page for Josée Grand'Maître
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand'Maitre, Josee 1961 births Living people Canadian racquetball players Sportspeople from Gatineau Sportspeople from Longueuil Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in racquetball Racquetball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Racquetball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Racquetball players at the 1999 Pan American Games Racquetball players at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games French Quebecers