Jessica Gaudreault has arrived in Paris ahead of her debut in the Olympics.
The goalkeeper for Canada’s water polo team says she is “loving the energy so far” in Paris.
“You can definitely feel the Olympic energy. Everybody is really excited to be here, super happy,” Gaudreault told CTV Morning Live.
Gaudreault is competing in her first Summer Olympics after being an alternate for the water polo team at the Summer Games in Tokyo.
“I’m really excited. I’m lucky that I have a really big support system back in Ottawa; a huge community that’s behind me and there will be 15 people here,” Gaudreault said Monday morning. “So, I’m super excited that I get to the water and I can show them, and everybody else, what I can do.”
The 30-year-old from Ottawa started playing water polo at the age of 13 and played with the Capital Wave Swimming and Water Polo club. Gaudreault graduated from the University of Indiana and coached at the University of Michigan.
Gaudreault was named Most Valuable Goaltender at the 2015 UANA Cup, and was a member of the team that won silver at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto. In 2017, she helped Canada win silver at the World League Super Final and was named the Most Valuable Goaltender of the Tournament.
Gaudreault was asked if she has a message for anyone pursuing their dreams of competing in the Olympics one day.
“It’s so great how much coverage that we get during the Olympics, but it’s a full-time thing. I’ve been working at this for 10 years, so if you think you can be here one day just don’t give up,” Gaudreault said. “I was an alternate for Tokyo, now I’m coming in as a starter so if you put your mind to it and your heart to it you can work towards anything.”
Canada’s first game at the Olympics is July 29 against Hungary. Canada will face China on July 31, Australia on Aug. 2 and the Netherlands on Aug. 4.