“Wanting to represent your country, dreaming of the Olympics, that’s how it all started. Whenever the opportunity arises, Alexandre Despaties speaks about how important the Quebec games have been in his career and in his life.
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However, he has almost no memory of his first participation because he was…too young.
In fact, history says he was the youngest athlete to compete in the Quebec Games. In 1991, aged just six, he experienced his first major competition at home in Laval.
“Lucky the amazing Michelle Gendron – who we call Madame Jeux du Québec, the living memory of the Games – told me everything,” he laughs.
Burned into his memory
However, his second participation in the 1993 Quebec Games in Baie-Comeau will always be remembered as a small boy.
Screenshot provided by Alexandre Despaties
“It’s the whole experience that’s unforgettable. The long bus ride to Baie-Comeau, we slept in the schools, everyone eats in the cafeteria, the gang spirit, these are my fondest memories,” says the diver.
Screenshot provided by Alexandre Despaties
He says he got the sting from the opening ceremony. “The big show, the arrival of the athletes, it was all a trigger that made me say: I want to experience that at the Olympics. »
“I even shook hands with the former Prime Minister [du Canada] Brian Mulroney. It was impressive,” adds the two-time Olympic champion in Athens and Beijing
Alexandre Despatie says winning two gold medals at the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal in front of his family and friends was the most touching moment of his glorious career. For him, the deep emotion that he experienced on the occasion of the performance at home, at home, was intrinsically linked to his first participation in the Quebec Games.
50 athletes
As part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the first edition, currently taking place in Rivière-du-Loup, Le Journal offers you today a list of 50 athletes who took part in the Quebec Games, where for some it all began.
This list is not a list of the top 50 athletes, but rather a nod to amateur sport. It’s also an opportunity to highlight the contribution of the athletes who have been inspiring Quebec for more than 50 years.
Alexandre Despatie
37 years
Photo provided by AJ Leitch
› Laval (1991)
› Baie Comeau (1993)
dive
Peter Harvey
65 years
Photo archive, agency QMI
› Riviere du Loup (1971)
Bathe
Sylvie Bernier
59 years old
› Three Rivers (1975)
dive
David Pelletier
48 years old
› Dolbeau (1985)
› Saint Jerome (1987)
› Matane (1989)
figure skating
Hugo Holle
32 years old
Photo archive, Jean-Francois Racine
› MRC of Asbestos (2003)
› Amos (2005)
cycling and triathlon
Last July, the athlete from Sainte-Perpétue became the first Quebecer to win a stage of the prestigious Tour de France. He was the second Canadian after Steve Bauer, a feat equaled 34 years earlier.
Marianne St-Gelais
33 years
› MRC Portneuf (2003)
› St. Hyacinth (2005)
Short track speed skating
Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon
40 years
Photo archive, Agency QMI
› Sherbrooke (1995)
› Alma (1999)
Swim synchronously
Tali Darsigny
24 years
Photo archive, Martin Alarie
› Talfeld (2011)
› Saguenay–Lac Saint Jean (2013)
› Drummondville (2015)
weightlifting
Joseph Polosifakis
32 years old
› St. Hyacinth (2005)
fencing
Francois Olivier Roberge
37 years
› Three Rivers (1999)
Long distance speed skating
He was one of the few athletes in the history of the Quebec Games to win four gold medals while competing in 1999. The skater took part in two Olympic Games in Vancouver and Turin.
Marie Eve Nault
41 years
Photo archive, Agency QMI
› Sherbrooke (1995)
football
Francois Coulombe-Fortier
38 years old
› Granny (1995)
Taekwondo
Laurent Dubreuil
30 years
File photo, Stevens LeBlanc
› MRC Portneuf (2003)
› St. Hyacinth (2005)
› MRC L’Assomption (2007)
› Sept-Iles (2007)
Short track, table tennis, athletics
The athlete’s title is tailor-made for the Quebec skater, who won 5 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals in four appearances at the Quebec Games.
Guylaine Cloutier
51 years old
› Hull (1981)
› Sept-Iles (1983)
Bathe
Denyse Julien
62 years old
› Rimouski (1975)
› Jonquiere (1976)
tennis and badminton
Isabelle Charest
52 years
› Sept-Iles (1983)
football
Guylaine Dumont
55 years
› Hull (1981)
athletics
In 2004, her duo with Annie Martin achieved the best result in the country’s history in beach volleyball at the Athens Olympics. In 2018 she was inducted into the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame.
Valerie Maltais
32 years old
Archive photo, Didier Debusschère
› Rimouski (2001)
› St. Hyacinth (2005)
Short track speed skating
Maude Charron
29 years
› St. Hyacinth (2005)
› Blainville/Rosemère/ Sainte-Thérèse (2009)
Artistic gymnastics
Sebastian Lareau
49 years
Photo archive, Ben Pelosse
› Sept-Iles (1983)
tennis
At just 10 years old, the man who won the 1999 United States Open in doubles demonstrated all his talent by winning a gold medal at the 1983 Quebec Games. During his career he won 17 professional titles, including a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics.
Benoit Lamarche
56 years old
› Hull (1981)
To go biking
Samuel Piette
28 years
Photo archive, Martin Alarie
› Sept-Iles (2007)
football
Genevieve Jeanson
41 years
File photo, Stevens LeBlanc
› Gasp (1993)
› Granny (1995)
› Sherbrooke (1995)
Biking and short track speed skating
Marion Thenault
22 years old
Archive photo, Didier Debusschère
› Saguenay (2013)
› Drummondville (2015)
gymnastics
She made her Olympic debut in Beijing 2022, where she won the bronze medal in the inaugural mixed-team aerial event at the Olympics with teammates Miha Fontaine and Lewis Irving.
Nathalie Lambert
59 years old
Photo archive, Pierre-Paul Poulin
› Montreal (1972)
› Saint Georges de Beauce (1974)
Short track speed skating
Patrick Zimmerman
51 years old
Archive photo, Martin Chevalier
› Sept-Iles (1983)
To go biking
Lyne Besette
47 years
› Karlsburg (1985)
athletics
Yannick Lupien
43 years
› Saint Jean sur Richelieu (1989)
› Laval (1989) Gaspe (1993)
Bathe
Pascal Clemens
60 years
File photo, Stevens LeBlanc
› Jonquiere (1976)
volleyball
With 533 wins in 690 games over 28 years at the top of Rouge et Or volleyball, he is Quebec’s most successful coach in amateur sports. Pascal Clément was voted national coach par excellence three times.
Lucille Lemay
72 years old
› Riviere du Loup (1971)
archery
Eniko Kiefer
62 years old
› Riviere du Loup (1971)
dive
Along with Lucille Lemay, she is one of the few athletes at the first Quebec Games in Rivière-du-Loup to have competed in the 1976 Olympics in her hometown of Montreal. Her father Dezso, originally from Hungary, was her coach.
Evelyn Comm
26 years
› Gatineau (2010)
football
Yvan Darsigny
57 years old
Photo archive, Martin Alarie
› Victoriaville (1981)
weightlifting
Felix Dolci
20 years
› Beauharnois/Salaberry de Valleyfield (2011)
› Saguenay (2013)
gymnastics
At the age of 8 he won two bronze medals at the Quebec Games. Two years later he was on the podium five times. To date, Félix is the most decorated athlete in Canadian Winter Games history with a collection of 11 medals.
Marie Philip Poulin
32 years old
Archive photo, Didier Debusschère
› St. Hyacinth (2005)
female hockey
Marie Michele Gagnon
33 years
Photo archive, agency QMI
› Rimouski (2001)
Alpine skiing
Sebastian Leblanc
49 years
Archive photo, Martin Chevalier
› Sept-Iles (1983)
tennis
Karl Hamelin
38 years old
Photo Alexis Goncalves Ramirez
› The Chutes de la Chaudiere (1997)
Short track speed skating
With six Olympic medals, including four golds, he tied with Cindy Klassen for first place as Canada’s most decorated Olympian at the Winter Games. However, he finished bottom overall during his time at the Quebec Games.
David Veilleux
35 years
› MRC of Asbestos (2003)
cycling and mountain biking
Alex Harvey
34 years old
Archive photo, Bruno Petrozza
› Rimouski (2001)
cross country skiing
Kim St Pierre
44 years
› Baie Comeau (1993)
ice Hockey
Valerie Hould-Marchand
42 years old
› Moritz 1991
Swim synchronously
Josee Corbel
49 years
› Saint Jean sur Richelieu (1977)
athletics
Gaetan Boucher
64 years old
› Montreal (1972)
speed skating
Eliot Grondin
21 years old
File photo, Stevens LeBlanc
› Longueil (2014)
› Montreal (2016)
mountain bike
The 21-year-old talented snowboarder from Saint-Romuald already has two Olympic medals under his belt, won in Beijing in 2022. Like many athletes, Eliot excelled at mountain biking in the summer and snowboarding in the winter.
Benoit Huot
39 years old
Photo archive, Agency QMI
› Montreal (1997)
Bathe
Francois Louis Tremblay
42 years old
Photo archive, Agency QMI
› Moritz (1991)
Short track speed skating
Maryse Turcotte
48 years old
Photo archive, Pierre-Paul Poulin
› Val d’Or (1987)
weightlifting
Joanna Rochette
37 years
Photo archive, Agency QMI
› Three Rivers (1997)
figure skating
Marie Helene Premont
45 years old
› Gasp (1993)
mountain bike