Doctorate in hand, she's heading to the Paris Olympics
- UdeMNouvelles
07/17/2024
Geneviève Cardella-Rinfret
Credit: Athlétisme Québec
A former javelin thrower, now coordinator of UdeM's Parcours leadership Carabins, Geneviève Cardella-Rinfret will be at the Games from July 31 to August 11.
Geneviève Cardella-Rinfret earned her doctorate in physical activity sciences from Université de Montréal in April, specializing in performance psychology, and is now preparing to head out on a new adventure, the 2024 Paris Olympics, participating as a spectator to better learn how such a competition is run.
Before she leaves for a two-week stay in France at her personal expense, we caught up with this talented sportswoman, a former javelin thrower with UdeM's varsity Carabins athletics team and one of UdeM's experts on the Games, who now runs the Parcours leadership Carabins.
We asked the 32-year-old athlete-turned-coach/administrator about the path she’s taken in sports so far, what she expects to learn at the XXXIII Olympiad, and how the experience will benefit her work when she returns to UdeM.
What's the first memory you have of being exposed to sports?
I remember starting organised sport at age six. My parents had signed me up for a summer soccer league. I loved it when my grandparents came to watch me play – we'd go for ice cream as a family at the end of the game. A few years later, I remember playing water polo at the local swimming pool with a watermelon covered in Vaseline!
Did you imagine yourself one day helping train the next generation of amateur athletes?
When I started coaching young people as a volunteer at age 17, I couldn't imagine earning a living as a coach or administrator in the sports world. I've worked very hard to get where I am today. I'm privileged to be able to make a living from my passion for sports. This is especially true when you consider that women have to fight to find their place in this predominantly male environment. I'm happy and proud to see that mentalities are evolving and that more and more women can have a positive impact on the next generation.
The Summer Olympics start in a couple of weeks. What will you be doing there?
It was a childhood dream of mine to take part in the Olympics as an athlete. Although I've had many great successes, I've had to revisit that dream in a different way. After 20 years of devoting myself to my favourite sport, I've decided to retire from high-performance sport this summer. To celebrate my career in style, I'll be attending the Olympic Games as a spectator. My parents, who've supported me throughout my career, will be there with me on this wonderful adventure. This experience will give me a better understanding of the logistics behind such a large-scale event. There's nothing like immersing yourself in this environment to understand its subtleties. I'll be watching the athletics, soccer, volleyball, beach volleyball and skateboarding competitions.
Any thoughts on Canada's strengths and weaknesses going into the competition?
I can't speak about all the sports, but I'm very happy to see that the Athletics Canada team will be strong this year. And there are a lot more Quebec athletes on this team than there were at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. I can't wait to see them in action at the Stade de France! I wish the best of luck to Marie-Éloïse Leclair, Simone Plourde and Aiyanna Stiverne, who are all members of the Saint-Laurent Sélect Athletics Club.
Any takeaways you expect will be useful to you when you return home?
I'm confident that this trip will allow me to learn a lot about high-performance sport. It's one thing to do a Ph.D. in human kinetics; it's quite another to experience first-hand what happens on the pitch. It's difficult to anticipate exactly what I'm going to take away from it, but I'll try to make the most of every opportunity and savour the moment.
