Jennifer Abel (born August 23, 1991) is a Canadian former diver. She is currently partnered with Mélissa Citrini-Beaulieu for synchronized diving. She won an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

bronze medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in the 3 m synchro diving event with

Émilie Heymans Émilie-Joane Heymans (born December 14, 1981) is a Canadian diver. She was born in Brussels, Belgium and raised in Greenfield Park, a suburb of Montreal. Heymans has won four Olympic medals, two bronze and two silver. She was the first female ...

and a silver medal at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in the same event with Melissa Citrini-Beaulieu. Abel is a four-time

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

champion in the 1 m and 3 m synchronized springboard; and is also a three-time

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 ...

champion in the 3 m springboard and 3 m synchronized springboard. Her ten medals (six silver, four bronze) at the

FINA World Championships The FINA World Championships or World Aquatics Championships are the World Championships for aquatics sports: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. They are run by FINA, and all swimming events ar ...

are a record for most medals by a Canadian in diving at the world championships.

Career

Abel became one of Canada's youngest ever divers when she had her debut

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

at the age of 16 in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. Though failing to win a medal at the Olympic games that year, Abel did achieve success together with partner Emilie Heymans on the Grand Prix circuit, winning several medals. Their work together would continue after that, and Abel would gain from Heymans' experience which would build through to more Grand Prix medals through to 2010. She became the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

champion in both the 1 m springboard and the 3 m synchro springboard with

, as well as holding a 2010 Commonwealth silver in the 3 m springboard. After her positive results she said that "This was my first Commonwealth Games and I didn't expect to win so many medals. It shows I'm on the right track for the Olympics." In 2011, Abel also achieved a bronze medal and a silver medal from the world championships in the 3 m springboard and the 3 m synchro again with Heymans. She then went on to win a silver with Heymans at the

2011 Pan American 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, ...

in the 3-metre synchro event. For the year of 2011, Abel was named the Aquatic Federation of Canada's female athlete of the year. At the

, she won a bronze medal, with her partner Heymans, in the 3 m springboard synchronized diving event.CTV, CTV 2012 London Summer Olympics, airdate: July 29, 2012, circa 10:45am EDT On winning her first Olympic medal at the age of 20, Abel said "Since the beginning of the year we’ve been really nervous about that moment. I think it takes time to just calm down and just realize it." Abel competed at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

, she and partner

Pamela Ware Pamela Ware (born February 12, 1993) is a Canadian diver. She is currently partnered with Jennifer Abel for synchronized diving. Ware has two bronze medals from the 2013 World Aquatics Championships where she won in the synchronized 3 m ev ...

won the silver medal in 3 m synchro springboard. She next competed in the 1 m springboard where she won the gold medal. Abel finished with a silver medal in the 3 m single springboard event, completing a three medal games for her. At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Abel finished a frustrating fourth in both the solo and synchro 3 m springboard events. Following her disappointing results at the 2016 Olympics, Abel began competing with new partner Mélissa Citrini-Beaulieu. At the

2017 World Aquatics Championships The 17th FINA World Championships ( hu, 2017-es úszó-világbajnokság) were held in Budapest, Hungary from 14 to 30 July 2017.

they partnered to a silver medal together in their first year in the women's 3-metre synchro springboard event. Abel also partnered with

François Imbeau-Dulac François Imbeau-Dulac (born 9 December 1990) is a Canadian diver. He began diving at the age of 9, and began competing internationally in 2006. In 2011 Imbeau-Dulac broke the Canadian record (held at the time by Alexandre Despatie) in the 1 ...

in the mixed 3-metre synchro springboard where they won bronze. Individually, Abel also won a bronze medal at these Championships, diving to bronze medal in the 3-metre springboard. With these three medals Abel tied

Alexandre Despatie Alexandre Despatie (; born June 8, 1985) is a Canadian diver and broadcaster from Laval, Quebec. He was the world champion at the 1 and 3 m springboards from 2005 to 2007 and is the first, and so far only, diver to have been world champion ...

for the most medals by a Canadian at the FINA World Championships. At the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, Abel won the women's 3 m springboard event. She qualified to represent Canada at the

. In Tokyo, Abel and partner Melissa Citrini-Beaulieu were silver medalists in the 3 m springboard event. Abel officially announced her retirement after the Tokyo Olympics.

Personal life

Abel is of Haitian descent. She is in a relationship with David Lemieux, former

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

middleweight boxing champion. Lemieux proposed to Abel on her return from the 2021 Summer Olympics and they are now engaged.

References

External links

* * * *
Diving Plongeon Canada
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Jennifer 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Laval, Quebec Divers from Montreal Canadian female divers Black Canadian sportswomen World Aquatics Championships medalists in diving Olympic divers of Canada Olympic medalists in diving Olympic silver medalists for Canada Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Divers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in diving Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Canada Divers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Pan American Games medalists in diving Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Divers at the 2011 Pan American Games Divers at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Francophone Quebec people Haitian Quebecers Canadian sportspeople of Haitian descent

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links