Meaghan Benfeito facts for kids
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| Full name | Meaghan Benfeito | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | March 2, 1989 Montreal, Quebec |
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| Height | 1.55 m (5 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 48 kilograms (106 lb; 7 st 8 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 10 metres & 10 metres synchro | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Pointe-Claire Diving Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Partner | Roseline Filion | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Meaghan Benfeito (born March 2, 1989) is a famous Canadian diver. She is known for her amazing dives from the 10-meter platform. Meaghan won several bronze medals at the Olympic Games. She competed in both individual and synchronized diving events. For many years, her diving partner was Roseline Filion.
Contents
Early Life and Start in Diving
Meaghan Benfeito was born on March 2, 1989, in Montreal, Quebec. Her parents, Arthur Benfeito and Margarida Correia, are from Portugal. Meaghan also has two younger twin sisters, Alicia and Chelsea.
She started diving for Canada in 2005. Meaghan has said that Canadian diving stars Emilie Heymans and Alexandre Despatie inspired her to become a diver.
Diving Career Highlights
Early Competitions
In 2005, Meaghan won a bronze medal at the World Aquatics Championships held in her hometown of Montreal. The next year, in 2006, she and Roseline Filion won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games. Meaghan also earned a bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American Games in the 3-meter synchronized event with her partner, Kelly MacDonald.
Olympic Journeys
Meaghan and Roseline Filion qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. This was a big achievement, as they beat some very strong teammates. At the Beijing Olympics, the diving pair finished in 7th place. Meaghan missed the 2010 Commonwealth Games because of a shoulder injury.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Meaghan and Roseline won a bronze medal. They kept their third-place spot through almost the entire 10-meter platform synchronized event. After winning the medal, Meaghan said, "We gave it all we had and we came away with a bronze medal. We're pretty happy with that." When asked if she was proud that many medalists were from Quebec, she replied, "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."
Meaghan continued her success at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She and Roseline Filion won another bronze medal in the 10-meter platform synchronized event. Meaghan also won an individual bronze medal in the 10-meter platform diving event.
Commonwealth and Pan American Games Success
Meaghan had a fantastic performance at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She won two gold medals: one in the 10-meter platform synchronized event with Roseline Filion, and another in the 10-meter platform individual event.
She was chosen to be Canada's flag bearer for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia. At these games, she won two silver medals in both the 10-meter platform individual and synchronized events.
Meaghan also achieved great success at the Pan American Games. She won gold medals at the 2015 Toronto Games (10m synchro) and the 2019 Lima Games (10m platform and 10m synchro).
Later Career and Retirement
Meaghan represented Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She made it through the first round of the 10-meter tower event. However, she finished 13th in the semi-finals and did not advance to the final. After the Tokyo Olympics, Meaghan announced that those were her last Olympic Games.
In April 2022, Meaghan Benfeito officially announced her retirement from competitive diving.
Personal Life
Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion were diving partners for a very long time. They consider each other lifelong friends. Roseline once said about their close bond, "We've known one another for our entire lives, so we have a really good relationship. It's more of a sisterhood relationship now."
In January 2021, Meaghan's condo building in Montreal was destroyed by a fire. Luckily, she was unharmed. However, her original Olympic medals were lost in the fire. The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for help. The IOC then made new reproduction Olympic medals and certificates for Meaghan. These new medals were given to her in June 2021.
See also
In Spanish: Meaghan Benfeito para niños
