Alexandre Despatie is a Canadian diving sensation. A two-time Olympic medalist and the only diver to have been world champion in three World Championship categories, he is also the holder of 42 Canadian national titles. But his illustrious career was not only defined by success. Just prior to the 2012 Olympic Games, Alexandre suffered a horrific head injury as a result of hitting the dive board during training. Making a remarkable comeback, he went on to compete in the Games, becoming an even bigger Canadian hero. Formerly a co-host of Breakfast Television Montreal, the fully-bilingual Alexandre imparts his talks with the lessons he learned from the highs and lows of sport, along with his broadcaster know-how, to make all of his appearances inspirational and impactful.
Alexandre first captured gold at the 1998 Commonwealth Games when he was just 13 years old. That stunning victory made him the youngest gold medal winner ever in the history of the Commonwealth Games, and earned him a spot in the 2000 Guinness Book of World Records.
Alexandre went on to win a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where he was the first male Canadian in history to have won a diving medal. He then took two gold medals at FINA competitions in 2005, three gold medals and one bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and one gold and two bronze medals at the 2007 Pan American Games. He then won his second silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Alexandre is also a five-time winner of the Canadian Sport Awards as Junior Male Athlete of the Year (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003), and a two-time winner of the Aquatic Federation of Canada’s Male Athlete of the Year Award (2001, 2002 and 2003).