Alexandre Despatie's lessons from a 12-year Olympic career

By Alexandre Despatie, for CBC Sports

I competed in four Olympic Games, but only went to one opening ceremony.

It was at my first Summer Games in 2000. What many people don't know is it's a really long process to go to the opening ceremony. Thankfully, I didn't have to compete for a long time after that so it worked out for me.

Walking in that stadium in Sydney with 80,000 people screaming, that's the moment when you realize, "Wow, I'm at the Olympics, I'm an Olympian." It was a very, very special moment for me, and that's just the beginning of my Olympic journey. 

I turned 15 a few months before those Games, two years removed from winning gold at the Commonwealth Games. My progression was going really fast, but I had the luxury of being able to say I was going there to experience the Games and not really put any pressure on myself in terms of results.

I exceeded everyone's expectations, including my own, when I finished in fourth in the 10-metre platform. My approach to those Olympics paid off, and it gave me the confidence that I could win a medal one day.

New priorities, new pressures

The Athens Games in 2004 were entirely different for me. After Sydney, I won silver at the world championships on the 10m and my 3m event was continuing to develop itself.

The pressure was mounting. I was going to Athens to win medals.

The 3m final was a tough event. I had to battle back after making a mistake midway through the event, fighting back to win the silver medal over the legendary Russian diver Dmitri Sautin. He was an idol of mine and someone who's revered in our sport, so to just overpower him at the very end of that event was a very special moment.

The 10m was the one I badly wanted to win, the one I wanted to succeed the most, but I just missed the podium again. So it was a bit of a bittersweet Olympics for me, but that's how it goes sometimes.

In 2008, there were a few younger divers who were heading to their first Olympics, including Meaghan Benfeito, Roseline Filion and Jennifer Abel. We're all great friends, and it was a very close, so I did my best to support them when they needed it.

I was dealing with my own issues as well ahead of Beijing. I broke my foot about four months before the Olympics. I was in a boot for two months and had a short amount of time to get back in shape and compete against the best in the world.

It was a tough preliminaries in 3m. I wanted to show the world that this injury didn't slow me down and I focused on the wrong things. Once it got to the semifinal, I shook that attitude off and focused on diving for myself and not to prove anything to anyone. I came away from that event with the silver medal.

Advice for future divers

The 2012 Games in London ended up being my last, and I wouldn't change a thing about how I approached my four Olympics.

I was especially fortunate because a lot of athletes only get one chance, so they have to pile up all the excitement of being there for the first time and potentially the last time and then focus on performing because it's their one shot. Luckily, I was able to compete in three more Olympics after my first one.

Whether you're a rookie or a veteran, fully healthy or coming back from injury, the last thing you want to think about is the result. You have to take it one day at a time, one moment at a time.

I was recently asked what advice I'd give the 15-year-old version of myself before the Sydney Olympics. Honestly, I'm happy with how my career played out, and wouldn't want to tamper with my approach back then. 

If anything, I'd tell him, "Keep it up, kid! You're doing just fine."

Alexandre Despatie is a four-time Olympian and host of Radio-Canada's Olympic Games Morning.