Sylvie Fréchette, MSC (born 27 June 1967 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian former synchronised swimmer. She is the 1992 Olympic champion in the women's solo event.

Sylvie Fréchette
MSC
Fréchette in 2012
Personal information
Born (1967-06-27) June 27, 1967 (age 57)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb)
Sport
CountryCanada
SportSwimming
StrokesSynchronised swimming
ClubMontréal Synchro Inc
Medal record

Career

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Fréchette competed in the women's solo at the 1992 Summer Olympics. In the technical figures routine, a Brazilian judge accidentally entered a score of 8.7 instead of 9.7, costing her first place;[1] after several appeals by the Canadian Olympic Committee, her medal was upgraded to gold.[2] Kristen Babb-Sprague, the beneficiary of the judge's error, was allowed to keep her gold medal.

Fréchette's success in the pool continued with a silver medal in the women's team event at the following Olympics.[3] In 1999, she was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. She has also contributed as a swimmer, designer, and coach to the synchronized-swimming portions of Cirque du Soleil's water-based stage production O, which opened in 1998 at the Bellagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

In 2006, Fréchette became an ambassador for Oxfam.[4]

Fréchette ran for the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election, as the party's candidate in the Quebec riding of Rivière-du-Nord.[5][6] She came in third and, after the election, ascribed her loss to party leader Andrew Scheer's inability to take a stance on abortions.[7]

Personal life

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Sylvie Frechette was engaged to her business partner Sylvain Lake, who committed suicide a week before the 1992 Games. Lake was a television track analyst and former 400m track athlete.

Electoral record

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2019 Canadian federal election: Rivière-du-Nord
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Bloc Québécois Rhéal Fortin 31,281 52.0 +20.0 $14,299.86
Liberal Florence Gagnon 13,402 22.3 -4.1 $53,916.68
Conservative Sylvie Fréchette 7,120 11.8 +3.3 $28,363.50
New Democratic Myriam Ouellette 4,194 7.0 -23.1 none listed
Green Joey Leckman 3,345 5.6 +3.1 $7,366.15
People's Normand Michaud 407 0.7 $45.01
Indépendence du Québec Nicolas Riqueur-Lainé 225 0.4 $117.25
Independent Lucie St-Gelais 127 0.2 $0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit 60,101 100.0
Total rejected ballots 1,206
Turnout 61,307 64.0
Eligible voters 95,813
Bloc Québécois hold Swing +12.05
Source: Elections Canada[8][9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Buchalter, Bill (7 August 1992). "Babb-sprague wins synchronized gold". Chicago Tribune. USA. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  2. ^ Bucholtz, Andrew (9 July 2012). "Sylvie Frechette's long wait for the gold she deserved". Yahoo! Sports. USA. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  3. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sylvie Fréchette". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  4. ^ "Oxfam-Quebec in action - Sylvie Fréchette". Oxfam Quebec. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Olympic champion Sylvie Fréchette to run for Conservatives in federal election". Montreal Gazette. La Presse Canadienne. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  6. ^ Blouin, Louis (August 26, 2019). "Olympic champion Sylvie Fréchette to run as Conservative candidate". CBC News. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  7. ^ Colpron, Suzanne (2019-10-26). "Scheer a manqué de "couilles", estime Sylvie Fréchette". La Presse (in French). Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  8. ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  9. ^ "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
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