Alexandre Despatie
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Alexandre Despatie (; born June 8, 1985) is a Canadian diver and broadcaster from
Laval, Quebec Laval is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north of Montreal. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and Quebec City, and the thirteenth largest city in Can ...
. 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 in all three individual categories (1, 3 and 10 m platform). He is also a 37-time Canadian senior diving champion and nine-time junior champion, and the most decorated male diver in Canadian history, winning two Olympic silver medals and reaching eight podiums at the world championships, including three gold medals. He was born in
Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Canada.


Diving career

Despatie began diving at the age of 5 in his own backyard pool. He first came to public attention at the
1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ( Malay: ), officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games (Malay: ), were a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 1998 games were the first held in Asia and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th cen ...
with an extremely impressive gold medal on the 10 metre platform (which included an unprecedented score of perfect 10s). He was only 13 years old at the time, and the achievement was recorded in the
Guinness Book Of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
2000. At the
Olympic games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
in Sydney in 2000, with a 4th-place finish at the 10-metre platform, he was offered the chance to compete in the
springboard A springboard or diving board is used for diving and is a board that is itself a spring, i.e. a linear flex-spring, of the cantilever type. Springboards are commonly fixed by a hinge at one end (so they can be flipped up when not in use), and ...
event in those Games as well, when one of the Canadian divers had to withdraw from the meet due to complications with his citizenship, but declined because he had not been training for that event. He won the silver medal at the world championships in 2001 in
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, Japan in the same event, and in 2003 won a gold medal at the
World Diving Championships The World Diving Championships are a biennial international sports competition organized by FINA since 1973 as part of the FINA World Aquatics Championships. Editions Diving start with competitions at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships. All- ...
in
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, Spain in the 10 metre platform. He recorded 107.1 for his last dive, which set a new record. At the
2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...
in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, Despatie won the gold medal in the three-metre springboard event, followed by three gold medals at the
2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...
in
Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...
,
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. At the
2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
in
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, Greece, he won the silver medal in the men's 3 metre springboard competition, but finished out of the medal standings in fourth place in the 10 metre platform. This result was contrary to expectations going into the games, where he was expected to win silver or gold in the 10 metre platform event and not place in the 3 metre springboard. In front of his home crowd at the 2005 World Aquatic Championships in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, he became World Champion on the 3 metre springboard. He won with a world record score of 813.60 points, his "worst" dive being rated an average 8.5. Despatie followed up on that performance by winning the 1 m springboard, with a world record score of 489.69. His victory meant that he had won
FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...
World Titles on both springboard and platform. Despatie successfully defended his three-meter springboard title at the
2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...
in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, and also won gold medals on 1 m springboard and 3 m synchronized with Arturo Miranda. He finished 3rd in the 10m platform. Returning to Melbourne, this time for the
2007 World Aquatics Championships The 2007 World Aquatics Championships, or the XII FINA World Championships, were held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007. The competition took place at three locations in central Melbourne: the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic C ...
, Despatie went head to head with the best divers in the world, including the top-ranked Chinese diving team. Finishing 8th in the 10 m tower event and winning silver medals in the 3 m event and the 3 m synchro with partner Arturo Miranda, Despatie proved that he was one of the world's best divers. At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, he claimed a silver medal in the 3m springboard event and finished in 5th place in the 3m synchro event. At the
2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...
. Alexandre got 3 gold medals for Canada, in the 1 metre and 3 metre springboard, and 3 metre synchronized springboard dive.


Television career

Despatie announced his retirement during a news conference in Montreal on June 4, 2013. On June 6, he was announced as the cohost of ''
Breakfast Television Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...
s Montreal edition, set to premiere on City Montreal on August 26, 2013. In 2015, Despatie left the show, and was replaced by Derek Fage. In 2021, Despatie appeared on '' Chanteurs masqués'', a Quebecois version of the popular TV show '' The Masked Singer''. He appeared as "Gâteau" (Cake) and placed 8th overall. In 2023, Despatie competed on '' Big Brother Célébrités''. He is the 4th person evicted and lasts 29 days.


Honors

In 2018, Despatie was awarded the
Order of Sport The Order of Sport is a national level award established in 2019 by Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. It is awarded alongside induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, and regarded as Canada's highest sporting honour. Overview Canada’s Sp ...
, marking his induction into
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...
.


Personal life

Despatie attended Collège André-Grasset. In an interview with the
CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...
in the lead-up to the 2004 Olympics, he said he was interested in acting and television/movie production, and may pursue that as a career once he is no longer diving, although he is also known to support groups and aspiring divers and to help them fulfill their dreams through private contributions to youth diving leagues. He has held diving clinics which aim to give young divers lessons and valuable experience. In August 2006, Despatie started shooting his first feature film in Montreal. The movie, a teenage romantic comedy called '' Taking the Plunge (À vos marques... party!)'' was released in Quebec in March 2007. Despatie played a small but important part of a diver who is the friend and confidant of a young female swimmer. Quebec actress Louise Laparé coached Despatie for his role and told a Montreal newspaper that the popular athlete was a "born actor". He has since moved towards a career in broadcasting, joining the broadcast team for Canada's French-language television coverage of the
2010 Olympic Winter Games The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...
in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
during a brief break from training for the 2012 Games. He co-anchored the coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies alongside legendary Quebec hockey commentators Richard Garneau and
Pierre Houde Pierre Houde (born 14 July 1957) is a Canadian play-by-play sports announcer for Réseau des sports (RDS). He has announced broadcasts of Montreal Canadiens games since 1989, and received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 2024, in recognit ...
, narrated numerous athlete profiles, and took viewers on a tour of
Granville Island Granville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in the Fairview neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, across False Creek from Downtown Vancouver, under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge. Formerly an industrial ...
, where many francophone musicians performed during the Olympics.


See also

*
CAMO CAMO, short for ''Club Aquatique de Montreal'' (), is a swim club based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada's Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard. CAMO operates in three areas: swimming, diving, and water polo however, CAMO has had the greatest success in ...
Canadian National Training Centre *
Diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...
* Philippe Comtois


References


External links

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Despatie, Alexandre 1985 births Living people Canadian male divers Canadian male film actors Canadian television hosts World Aquatics Championships medalists in diving Olympic divers for Canada Olympic silver medalists for Canada Olympic medalists in diving Divers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games divers for Canada Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games gold medallists in diving Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in diving Divers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Pan American Games gold medalists in diving Pan American Games bronze medalists in diving Divers at the 2003 Pan American Games Divers at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Divers from Montreal Sportspeople from Laval, Quebec 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Citytv people