Canadian Olympic diver Roseline Filion announced her retirement from the sport today via Twitter.
It’s with great emotions that after 20 years of being a competitive athlete, I decided to retire. Thanks to all of you who supported me ! pic.twitter.com/J3Uxe7sEkw
— Roseline Filion (@Roselinefilion) January 23, 2017
Filion announced her retirement in both French and English, saying, “It’s with great emotions that after 20 years of being a competitive athlete, I decided to retire. Thanks to all of you who supported me !”
Filion’s retirement comes after an impressive showing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio which resulted in her second Olympic medal. Along with her teammate, Meaghan Benfeito, the Quebec native managed to win bronze in the 10 m synchro event. Her bronze medal performance served as a repeat of the bronze that the pair won back in the same event at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Besides success at the Olympics, Filion’s first taste of international success was at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships held in Montreal, just outside her hometown of Laval. There, Filion and Benfeito won bronze in the 10 m synchro, which would become their signature event.
Backing up their bronze, the pair added another bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia before preparing to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Competing at the once-every-quad competition, the pair finished seventh overall.
It wasn’t until the 2011 Pan American Games that the pair would return to the podium. In Guadalajara, Mexico, they won the silver medal in the 10 m synchro.
Their bronze medal from London proved to be the stepping-stone to continuing their success. At the 2013 World Championships, they finished second in their signature event. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games they took home their first international gold medal and Filion added her first individual medal with a bronze in the 10 m platform event.
Heading into 2015, the pair were on fire. Filion and her partner won gold in the 10 m synchro at the Pan American Games in Toronto and Filion added individual silver in the 10 m platform event. Heading over to Kazan, Russia for the World championships, they finished second in the 10 m synchro event.
Rio 2016 proved to be Filion’s last competition. She’s now retired from the sport at the age of 29. It’s unclear as to what her plans are in the future.
Benfeito has yet to make any comment on Filion’s retirement, and is currently in training. On January 18th, Benfeito retweeted a tweet from Canadian diver Jennifer Abel featuring a video of the two about to begin a practice in Montreal.
Our break is now over!!!! Its now the time to start our second practise of the day @MegBenfeito pic.twitter.com/lzKv2sqVZq
— Jennifer Abel (@JennAbel91) January 18, 2017
