Meaghan Benfeito (born March 2, 1989) is a Canadian diver. She used to compete in the 10m synchronized event with Roseline Filion before the latter retired in January 2017. Benfeito and Filion won bronze medals in the 10 m platform synchro event at the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

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 ...

, and in the latter event Benfeito also won a bronze medal in the 10 m platform individual event.

Early life

Benfeito was born on March 2, 1989, 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 ...

, Quebec to Portuguese parents, Arthur Benfeito and Margarida Correia. She has younger twin sisters, Alicia and Chelsea.

Career

She began diving for Canada in 2005 and credits Emilie Heymans and

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 inspiring her to take up the sport. She won a bronze medal at the 2005

World Aquatics Championships The World Aquatics Championships, formerly the FINA World Championships, are the World Championships for six aquatic disciplines: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. The championships are st ...

in her hometown of Montreal, but she and Filion have been unable to return to the medal podium at the Worlds since. In 2006, they won a bronze at the

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 ...

. Benfeito won a bronze medal at the 2007

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 ...

in the 3m Synchronized event with

Kelly MacDonald Kelly Macdonald (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish actress. Known for her performances on film and television, she has received various accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Macdona ...

. Benfeito and Filion qualified for the Beijing Olympics after they beat teammates Heymans and Marie-Eve Marleau which was considered a dramatic upset, particularly at defeating Canadian diving legend Heymans. At 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 ...

, the diving partners finished in 7th place. She did not compete in 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 ...

due to a lingering shoulder injury that had not healed in time. Both the ladies failed to medal at any events leading into 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 London. At the 2012 edition the two Canadians managed to hold third place through nearly the whole competition in the 10 m platform synchro event. After the medal clinching dive she said that "We gave it all we had and we came away with a bronze medal. We're pretty happy with that." A Quebec politician from a provincially sovereigntist party, the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

, commented on the medals won by Benfeito and others as the first four medals won were from Quebec athletes. Pauline Marois said that ""This means, among other things, that it’s another example of how Quebec could shine among the brightest ... as an independent country. We could continue to win our medals, I’m sure of that." Benfeito responded to a similar question from Canadian media when asked if she was as proud of the day as all the day's medalists were from Quebec athletes by saying that "No, we are one big happy gang. We are equally as proud of our home in Quebec as we are of our home in Canada." 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 won a gold medal in the 10 m platform synchronised with Fillion, and gold in the 10 m platform individual. At the

in Rio de Janeiro, Benfeito and Filion repeated their bronze medal performance in the 10 m platform synchro event, while Benfeito won an additional individual medal in the individual platform diving event. Fillion placed sixth in the latter event. Benfeito was named as Canada's flag bearer for 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 ...

in the

Gold Coast, Australia The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital, Brisbane. It is Queensland's second-largest city a ...

. She has qualified to represent Canada 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 ...

. After successfully completing the preliminaries of the 10 metre tower, she finished 13th in the semi-finals and did not advance to the final. She announced her last Olympics were Tokyo and plans to retired from diving. In April 2022, she announced her retirement from diving.

Personal life

Benfeito and Filion have been together as diving partners for a long time and reportedly consider each other as lifelong friends. Filion said of their relationship that, "We've known one another for our entire lives, so we have a really good relationship. It's more of a sisterhood relationship now. We could probably go to a restaurant and order for each other." Benfeito managed to escape unharmed when her Montreal condo building was destroyed by fire on January 28, 2021, however her original Olympic medals were lost. Upon the COC's request the IOC issued reproduction Olympic medals and certificates, based upon medals housed in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, and the replicas were presented to Benfeito on June 8, 2021.

References

External links

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Meaghan Benfeito
at Diving Canada (archived) * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benfeito, Meaghan 1989 births Living people Canadian female divers World Aquatics Championships medalists in diving Olympic divers for Canada Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Olympic medalists in diving 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 2016 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 2006 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Pan American Games gold medalists in diving Pan American Games silver medalists in diving Pan American Games bronze medalists in diving Divers at the 2007 Pan American Games Divers at the 2011 Pan American Games Divers at the 2015 Pan American Games Divers at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Francophone Quebec people Canadian people of Portuguese descent Sportspeople of Portuguese descent Divers from Montreal 21st-century Canadian sportswomen