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 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were 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 officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

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

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

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

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

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

FINA World Championships The World Aquatics Championships, formerly the FINA World Championships, are the World Championships for six aquatic disciplines: Swimming (sport), swimming, Diving (sport), diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water ...

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 (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

at the age of 16 in the

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

. 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, 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 ...

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 () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

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 (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

, she and partner Pamela Ware 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 (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

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 () 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 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 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, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was 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 middleweight boxing champion. Lemieux proposed to Abel on her return from the 2020 Summer Olympics and they are now engaged. They have 2 children.

References

External links

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links