Teenage phenom Alexandre Despatie became an overnight sensation in
September 1998 when he won the gold medal on men's 10-metre tower at the
Commonwealth Games. At 13, he was the youngest champion in Games history.
He was even included in the Guinness World Book of Records - Millennium
version, for being the youngest-ever male winner of an international diving
event.
His success continued in 1999. He joined diving's big leagues going
head-to-head against the world's great tower specialists including world
and Olympic champion Dmitri Sautin of Russia. Despatie's best senior
international performance last year was a bronze medal at a Grand Prix meet
in Germany. He was also brilliant at the world junior championships
sweeping the springboard gold medals (one and three metres). In addition
he broke the Canadian record for points on men's tower and signed a
sponsorship deal with McDonalds. He was named Canada's male junior athlete
of the year in 1998. He holds the Canadian records on all three boards in
two age group categories, the junior marks on three and 10-metre and the
senior record at 10-metres.
2000 Games Sept. 30: Men's 10m platform: Alexander Despatie, Montreal, finished fourth in final.
Sept. 30: Men's 10m platform: Alexander Despatie, Montreal, finished fourth in final.