Jennifer Abel retired | “I won’t miss it”

Jennifer Abel dived for 25 years, 16 of which were at the highest level. Only once did she take a three-month break, at the start of the pandemic, in the spring of 2020.

Simon drouin
Press

Since returning from the Tokyo Olympics in early August, she has never returned to the pool. And he doesn’t miss it.

“It’s not not going to train anymore that is difficult, it’s not to see my friends on a daily basis, not to see Mélissa anymore. [Citrini-Beaulieu], she said on Tuesday. Winter is coming, I know these are the hardest times. Diving and always being cold, getting out of the pool with wet hair… I really don’t miss it. And I know I won’t miss that either. ”

Abel made the decision to retire a few months ago. First, she is 14 weeks pregnant with a wanted and planned baby that she wished she had a year earlier. The postponement of the Games changed his plans.

The “little Jennifer”

For several years now, she has shared her daily life with the two children of her fiancé, the professional boxer David Lemieux. “It was truly our dream to grow the family with a mini-David and a mini-me. ”

She would have liked to relay the happy news last month, but the idea of ​​announcing her retirement from sports at the same time made her back down. “I don’t know why, but it worried me so much. ”

She quickly dismissed the idea of ​​a press conference: “I didn’t want to say my goodbyes in front of everyone, that would have been too emotional. ”

Her agent therefore suggested that she write a letter to “little Jennifer”, the one to whom the 30-year-old diver turned during four days of anguish in Tokyo, while awaiting her individual ordeal.

She believed that her silver medal in sync with Mélissa Citrini-Beaulieu would release her from all the pressure. That was not the case.

Alone in her room in the Athletes’ Village, she cried every night. As if the uncertainty of the past year and a half had caught her suddenly. Mélissa had to leave the day after her competition because of the constraints related to COVID-19. Abel thought about the consequences of contracting the virus and the 14-day isolation that would have followed.

She referred to what her sports psychologist Penny Werthner had taught her, whom she first saw in June 2020, when she returned to the water. “If I have only one regret in my career, it’s not to have started working with her earlier. ”

In the individual event, she got off to a flying start: third in the preliminaries, third in the semi-final. In the final, she missed her third dive. She placed eighth. In his fourth Games, the much-desired individual medal did not materialize.

Despite everything, a big smile accompanied her tears. “I got so lost in Rio on everything surrounding the medal [elle avait terminé deux fois quatrième]. I worked very hard not to give it the same importance. It was still a personal goal, but the fact that I was able to live in the moment, to be good at the pool like when I was young, it was magic. ”

A new challenge

Nevertheless, on her return to Canada 24 hours after the competition, she thought of Paris 2024. She also spoke about it with her fiancé, who made the big request to her at the airport: and if I came back after the baby ?

The idea did not last long. “Afterwards, you think back to the difficult times, the long months without competitions, me, an athlete who thrives on that. And even if I got through it all, nothing guaranteed it, the medal. It really brought me back to earth. “

Retiring after 16 years of diving at the highest level, the two-time Olympic medalist sees it as a “new challenge”. “I am very fortunate to have the support of my family and especially that of David, who understands me enormously. I don’t feel alone. ”

Professionally, she takes the time to see the opportunities coming. She undertook certification to become a Pilates instructor. “I have small projects like that. I trust life. ”

While waiting to give it itself in the spring, which will occupy it amply.

“The best years”

Jennifer Abel wasn’t just Mélissa Citrini-Beaulieu’s sync partner, she was her best friend. “Honestly, I shared the best years of my career with her,” said the diver, from the National Sports Institute, where she resumed training. “Even though I’ve known it for a while, it’s sure to be a little emotional for me this morning. But I’m super happy for her. It’s really beautiful what’s happening to her right now. ”

Forced to leave Tokyo after the synchro medal, Citrini-Beaulieu remained in communication with her friend. She followed her event from a distance, setting her alarm for each phase of the competition that took place overnight in Montreal.

The missed dive in the final, that’s not what she retains. “It’s sad, I wanted it to be better, but the dive is so full of ups and downs. It is not this plunge that will define neither his person nor his career. ”

What should we remember about Jennifer Abel? “Of course, she had exceptional results. She made her first Olympics at 16, it’s really early for a diver. She is a hard worker, who gives herself 200%. And she has her aura on the edge of the pool. You feel it right away when she’s around. ”