Stephanie Labbe, whose safe hands helped Canada to Olympic gold in Tokyo last summer, has announced her retirement.
The shocking news comes just two days after Labbe finished runner-up for the best FIFA women goalkeeper.
The 35-year-old from Stony Plain, Alta., Who started the season at Sweden’s FC Rosengard before being transferred to Paris Saint-Germain at the end of August, has been joined by Chile’s Christiane Endler (Paris Saint-Germain / Olympique). dusted off for the FIFA award. Lyonnais).
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Labbe says she left PSG and will strike this spring after the second half of the Canadian women’s so-called “Celebration Tour”.
“It will be my official send-off with the national team,” said Labbe, who won 85 games for Canada, with 43 clean sheets.
Labbe said she has been thinking about her future for some time, with a decision coming in late November.
“Honestly, I woke up one day and it just hit me – I just knew in my heart it’s time,” she said in an interview. “I feel so confident in it, I feel so ready for what is next.
“I really feel at this stage that I gave everything to the game and I invested my heart and soul in it and I just do not feel that I have anything left. And I feel so wonderful about it. I really feel like I left everything out there.
“I could not have asked for a better moment than to end my career on an Olympic gold medal and sign for one of the top clubs in the world.”
Stephanie Labbe responds in a penalty shootout during the women’s final soccer match against Sweden at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, August 7, 2021, in Yokohama, Japan.
Other Pens, AP Photo
A rib injury forced Labbe from Canada’s opening match against host Japan at the Olympics. But she returned after missing one game, even though she was playing in pain.
The Canadian no. 1 became an iconic figure in Tokyo – grinning at goal during pressure-laden penalty kicks over Brazil and Sweden.
While she still loves the game, Labbe says she no longer “felt that drive to want to go to training to really push herself to the maximum.”
“And for me, I’ve never been the type to do things half-assed.”
On top of that, a spark was missing. She said the “rush of excitement” stepping on the field was fading.
She leaves the Canadian goal in good hands with Erin McLeod (119 caps), Kailen Sheridan (16) and Sabrina D’Angelo (eight) – with Anna Karpenko, Rylee Foster and Devon Kerr among those waiting in the wings.
“It’s a bright, bright future for this team,” Labbe said. “I do not doubt that. I am very excited to see how they all continue to grow and flourish. And I’m going to be their biggest cheerleader, their biggest support system. ”
Stephanie Labbe makes a save in the women’s soccer final during the Tokyo Summer Olympics in Yokohama, Japan on Friday, August 6, 2021.
Frank Gunn, The Canadian Press
Labbe also won praise for his revelation on mental health, detailing difficult times in 2012, after the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and during the Tokyo Games.
In 2012, she walked away from the national team to focus on her club career rather than stressing about her place in the Canadian pick order.
That meant he missed the London Olympics, where Canada won bronze.
After winning bronze at the Rio Games in 2016, the Olympic medal began to weigh her down with Labbe feeling people were more interested in it than she was. In September 2017, the Washington Spirit announced Labbe was taking medical leave for the remainder of the NWSL season.
More recently, Labbe said she could not train for part of the Tokyo Games due to “high levels of anxiety and multiple panic attacks”.
She outlined the challenges she faced in a September essay entitled “Winning the Olympics is not enough to cure mental health” to help promote FIFPRO’s “Are You Ready To Talk” make – a mental health awareness program of the organization representing 65,000 professional soccer players worldwide.
“I had no idea that this injury would cause an underlying vulnerability in my mental state,” Labbe wrote.
“My adrenaline was so high, and my neuromuscular system was so fine-tuned that I struggled to get between games, which led to high levels of anxiety and multiple panic attacks.
“It got to the point where I could not practice between the quarterfinals and the final because I was so overstimulated.”
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Labbe said she “basically spent the 48 hours after the last one in a dark room.”
At PSG, Labbe shared goalkeeper duties with Germany Charlotte Voll and the Czech Republic’s Barbora Votikova. Her last match was on 16 December, a 6-0 victory over Iceland’s Breidablik in the UEFA Champions League group stage.
Labbe is scheduled to return to Canada on Thursday with her fiancé, former Olympian Georgia Simmerling, and their dog Rio.
“I know I want to continue to push the game forward in Canada,” Labbe said.
“Of course I want to continue to be a voice and push for a professional league in Canada on the women’s side. I want to stay in the game in different ways, to continue to inspire young girls to stay in sports, to keep playing football.
“I have a piece of my heart where I want to continue to get more Alberta girls on the national team. There have been few and far between over the years. ”
Home is always close to her heart.
Labbe’s right arm, from shoulder to elbow, is a tattooed tribute to her native Alberta.
The ink depicts the Rocky Mountains – “my happy place” – and spruce trees. A compass pointing north indicates she is from northern Alberta.
A wild rose, Alberta’s provincial flower, is wrapped around an anchor that reminds her to be grounded and know where you’re coming from. Underneath a quote, “Be You Bravely,” provide words to live by.
The word “Free” was inked on her wrist. She calls it a reminder “that when I’m at my best, I’m free and do not think, I’m just capable of being me and I’m just free.”
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Labbe says she will take her time to choose her next adventure.
“First of all, I want to enjoy the last few months of national team activity,” she said.
“Just take the time to reflect and be proud of what I was able to achieve. But I am also very confident that opportunities will come and things on the other side will be there for me.
“But at the moment I just want to enjoy this moment with my friends. my family, with the national team and have a proper celebration this spring. ”
Starting a family with Simmerling is also on the cards, with the couple looking forward to a wedding in the summer of 2023.
Simmerling made history at Rio 2016 by becoming the first Canadian athlete to participate in a different sport at each of three different Olympic Games. She made her Olympic debut in alpine skiing at Vancouver 2010, competed in skicross in Sochi in 2014 and track team cycling at both the Rio and Tokyo Games.
Simmerling retired after Tokyo, where her team chase finished fourth in Canadian record time.
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Labbe played collegiate football at the University of Connecticut, started her professional career in Sweden in 2009, played for Pitea IF and then KIF Orebro DFF before returning to North America in 2014 to join Washington.
In March 2018, she signed for the Calgary Foothills, a men’s team. But league rules prevented her from playing.
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Labbe joined Sweden’s Linkopings FC before returning to the US to join the North Carolina Courage and winning the 2019 NWSL Championship.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
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