Laurence Vincent-Lapointe of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, one of the best Canadian canoers of all-time has retired at the age of 29 according to the Canadian Press on Monday. Just how impressive was Vincent-Lapointe during her remarkable women’s canoeing career? Well, she was a two-time Olympic medalist and an 11-time world champion.
At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, Vincent-Lapointe won the silver medal in the women’s C1-200 metres, and a bronze medal in the women’s C2-500 metres with Katie Vincent of Mississauga, Ontario. It should be pointed out that Vincent-Lapointe and Vincent are not related.
At the World Canoeing Championships, Vincent-Lapointe won seven individual gold medals and four medals in the team events. She placed first in the women’s C1-200m at the at the 2010 World Canoeing Championships in Poznan, Poland, at the 2011 World Canoeing Championships in Szeged, Hungary, the 2013 World Canoeing Championships in Duisburg, Germany, the 2014 World Canoeing Championships in Moscow, the 2017 World Canoeing Championships in Racine, Czech Republic, and the 2018 World Canoeing Championships in Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal. Vincent-Lapointe also won an individual gold medal in the women’s C1-5000 metres in 2018, and teamed up to with Mallorie Nicholson of Oakville, Ontario to win gold in the women’s C2-500 metres at the 2011 World Canoeing Championships, Sara-Jane Caumartin of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec to win gold in the women’s C2-500 metres at the 2013 World Canoeing Championships, and with Vincent at the 2017 and 2018 World Canoeing Championships.
Throughout Vincent-Lapointe’s career she was a victim of circumstance. That is because her event, the C1-200 metres was not on the Olympic program until Tokyo in 2021. She also fought hard for gender equality in the sport of canoeing.
