Today, we continue the conversation with a warrior. Guylaine Dumont is considered the best volleyball player in Canadian history and yet, that doesn’t even begin to tell the tale...
Growing up in a small town in the Province of Quebec, her early years were filled with a father who beat her mother, and 3 sisters trying to rally together to survive it all. At only age 13, Guylaine was moved out of home to begin playing sport full-time. This was right around the time that her closest sister Nathalie went missing…
As the youngest player ever on the Canadian national team right into adoring fans during her pro career in Italy; the darkness of her upbringing shadowed most of her career. Consistent humiliation and abuse from coaches seemed all too familiar for her. But when the news that her sister had been found dead, reached her in Italy; you wonder how she ever rose to the heights in sport that she did.
Longing for an Olympic dream - twice she would shut the door on it – bc the price you needed to pay seemed too high. It took a player 10yrs her Junior to sweep her up out of retirement and reach the Athens Olympics to score the best ever result in Canadian female beach volleyball history!
Now married with 2 daughters, Guylaine has devoted her life to helping athletes be supported through their own traumas in sport. As co-founder of “Sport-Aide” (loosely translated as “Sport Help”), she rallied more than $2M from the Quebec government to bolster her program and passionately charged up a “help line” for athletes. Finally, being able to provide the lifeline she never felt she could call!
As her own healing journey continues with its natural highs and lows, I am honoured to be speaking to a woman that has come through the ashes of her own abuse to be able to create not only change for future athletes but more importantly, a space for healing…
The Goods on Guylaine:
Guylaine Dumont (born October 9, 1967 in St-Etienne-de-Lauzon, Quebec) is a Canadian female beach volleyball player. She lives in Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly.
Together with partner Annie Martin, Guylaine Dumont recorded the best ever Olympic result for Canadian women in beach volleyball with a fifth-place finish at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, losing to the Americans Misty May and Kerry Walsh in the quarter-final.
Regarded as one of the top Canadian women’s volleyball players of all-time, Dumont began her career as a member of the Canadian national team in 1985 at just 17 years of age.
In 2002, Dumont returned to the sport full-time and began competing alongside Martin in the beach volleyball discipline. She retired from competitive volleyball for a second time following the 2004 Olympic Games.
Dumont is married to 1988 Canadian long track speed skating Olympian, Gregor Jelonek and now, he is the coach of the Canadian long track speed skating team. He was in Torino, Vancouver and Sotchi as a coach in 2006–2010 and 2014.
Dumont is currently a helping relationship therapist specialized in sport and a motivational speaker.
Contact Guylaine:
Facebook: @guylaine.kikau.7
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