Émilie-Joane Heymans (born December 14, 1981) is a Canadian diver. She was born in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium and raised in Greenfield Park, a suburb of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. Heymans has won four

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 bet ...

medals, two bronze and two silver. She was the first female diver to win medals in four consecutive Olympic games and the first Canadian to win medals in four consecutive Olympics. Heymans also is a one time world champion and has won four Pan American championships as well as one

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 ex ...

championship. In addition she has won multiple medals in all three of these competitions.

Career

Before becoming a diver, Heymans was a gymnast.Television SRC, ''Pekin 2008'', 'Plus Vite, Plus Haut, Plus Fort' segment (autobiographical monologue), Émilie Heymans, Aug 21, 2008 She began diving in 1993, at age 11, after her coaches told her she did not have the physique to be a gymnast. Emilie made her international debut with

Anne Montminy Anne Katherine Montminy (born January 28, 1975) is a Canadian former competitive diver and lawyer. Diving career Montminy had a number of highpoints in her diving career; she won a gold medal on the 10m platform at 1994 Commonwealth Games an ...

at the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney, where they won a silver medal in the 10m synchronized diving event. Heymans then set her sights on the 10m platform and became the 2003 World Champion in Barcelona. At the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens, she proved herself again in the 10m synchronized diving event when she, along with teammate

Blythe Hartley Blythe Hartley (born May 2, 1982) is a Canadian Olympic diver. She was born in Edmonton, Alberta and began diving at age 12. Personal life She went to the National Sport School in Calgary, Alberta with many other top Canadian athletes. Hartl ...

, took home the bronze medal. Going into 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 Nat ...

she failed to qualify with partner Marie-Eve Marleau in the platform synchro event, which was considered a huge upset. In order to qualify for the 2008 games, Heymans had to re-focus on the solo platform, an event where she had failed to medal in two Olympics in a row. Heymans won the silver medal at the Beijing

2008 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 Nati ...

in the 10m individual event, and only a solid final dive by the Chinese competitor kept her off of the top of the podium. This medal secured her recognition as an outstanding diver in both individual and synchronized diving events. She had won medals in three consecutive Olympics, achieved by only five other Canadian Olympians. The years of abuse her body suffered as a result of platform diving caused pernicious neck and shoulder injuries, which compelled a switch to the springboard. In 2009, Heymans won the silver medal at the World Championships in Rome in the 3M springboard. In 2011, at the World Championships in Shanghai, Heymans, with partner

Jennifer Abel 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 bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 3 m synchro diving even ...

, won the silver medal in the 3m synchro event. At the

2012 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 ...

, Émilie became the first Canadian Summer Olympian to win a medal in four straight Olympics, winning a bronze medal in 3m synchronized diving, along with partner Abel.

Sylvie Bernier Sylvie Bernier, CM, CQ (born January 31, 1964) is an Olympic athlete from Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada. She won the gold medal in the Women's 3m Springboard Diving at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Bernier announced her retirement fr ...

, a

CBC Sports CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-langu ...

analyst and former gold medal diver, said of Heymans that "Emilie has won a medal at four straight Games and with three different partners. She has a quiet confidence and always believes she can do it. She doesn't need to tell the whole world." Heymans herself said of her record-setting medal, "It's awesome. I'm really happy that I was able to win my fourth medal with Jennifer. We worked really hard over the last two years." In January 2013, Heymans retired from the sport.

Personal life

Born in

, Heymans moved with her family to

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 thirte ...

after her mother competed at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

as a fencer. Her mother,

Marie-Paule Van Eyck Marie-Paule Van Eyck (born 22 June 1951) is a Belgian fencer. She competed in the women's individual foil event at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Her daughter, Émilie Heymans, was also an Olympic athlete representing Canada in diving Diving most o ...

, was an Olympic fencer for Belgium.

Competitive history

* Heymans won a silver medal at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in 10 m platform

synchro A synchro (also known as selsyn and by other brand names) is, in effect, a transformer whose primary-to-secondary coupling may be varied by physically changing the relative orientation of the two windings. Synchros are often used for measuring ...

with partner

. * Heymans won a gold medal at the 2003 World Championships in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain in the 10 m platform. * Heymans won a bronze medal at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in the 10 m platform synchro with partner

. * Heymans won silver at the

in the women's 10 metre platform event. This was the first individual Olympic medal for Heymans.CBC Television, ''Olympic Morning'', August 21, 2008. * Heymans won bronze 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, th ...

in the women's 3 metre springboard synchronized diving event, with partner

References

External links