Stephanie Labbe, whose steady hands helped Canada win Olympic gold in women’s football in Tokyo last summer, has announced her retirement.
The shock news comes just two days after Labbe finished second as the top women’s FIFA goalkeeper.
The 35-year-old from Stony Plain, Alta., who started the season at Sweden’s FC Rosengard before moving to Paris Saint-Germain at the end of August, was beaten by Chile’s Christiane Endler (Paris Saint-Germain/ Olympique) beaten Lyoner).
Labbe says she has left PSG and will quit this spring after the second half of Canada’s women’s so-called ‘Celebration Tour’.
“This will be my official farewell with the national team,” said Labbe, who has won 85 caps for Canada, keeping 43 clean sheets.
Labbe said she had been considering her future for some time, with a decision for late November.
“Honestly, I woke up one day and it just hit me — I just knew in my heart it was time,” she said in an interview. “I’m so confident, I feel so ready for what’s next.
“I really feel at this point that I gave everything and put my heart and soul into the game and I just don’t feel like I have anything left. And I feel so great about it. I really feel like I left it all out there. I couldn’t have asked for a better moment than ending my career with an Olympic gold medal and signing for one of the top clubs in the world.”
A rib injury forced Labbe out of Canada’s opening game against hosts Japan at the Olympics. But she returned after missing a game despite playing in pain.
The Canadian No. 1 became an icon in Tokyo – with a grin in goal during powerful penalty shoot-out victories against Brazil and Sweden.
While she still loves the game, Labbe says she no longer “felt that urge of wanting to go to practice to really push herself to the max.”
“And for me, I’ve never been the type to do things half-heartedly.”
Also, a spark was missing. She said the “rush of excitement” that hits the field is wearing off.
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.
“This is a bright, bright future for this team,” Labbe said. “I have no doubt about that. I am so excited to see them all continue to grow and thrive. And I will be their biggest cheerleader, their biggest support system.”
Labbe has also been praised for his dedication to mental health, detailing difficult times in 2012, after the Rio 2016 Olympics and during the Tokyo Games.
She retired from the national team in 2012 to focus on her club career rather than resent her place in Canada’s pecking order. That meant missing out on the London Olympics, where Canada won bronze.
After winning bronze at the Rio 2016 games, the Olympic medal began to weigh on her as Labbe felt people were more interested in it than she was. In September 2017, the Washington Spirit announced that Labbe was on medical leave for the remainder of the NWSL season.
Labbe recently said she was unable to train for part of the Tokyo games because of “high levels of anxiety and multiple panic attacks.”
She described the challenges she faced in a September essay entitled “Winning the Olympics Is Not Enough to Cure Mental Health” to help FIFPRO’s “Are You Ready To Talk” fame – a mental health awareness program run by the organization, which represents 65,000 professional footballers worldwide.
“I had no idea that this injury would trigger an underlying vulnerability in my mental state,” Labbe wrote. “My adrenaline levels were so high and my neuromuscular system so finely tuned that I had trouble calming down between games, leading to high levels of anxiety and multiple panic attacks. It got to the point where I couldn’t practice between the Quarters (Quarterfinals) and the Finals because I was so overwrought.”
Labbe said she “basically spent the 48 hours after last lying down in a dark room.”
At PSG, Labbe shared goalkeeping duties with Germany’s Charlotte Voll and Czech Barbora Votikova. Their last game was a 6-0 win against Iceland’s Breidablik in the UEFA Champions League group stage on 16 December.
Labbe is scheduled to return to Canada Thursday with her fiancee, former Olympian Georgia Simmerling, and their dog, Rio.
“I know I want to keep pushing the game in Canada,” Labbe said. “Of course I want to continue to give a voice and campaign for a professional league in Canada on the women’s side. I want to stay in the game in a number of ways, continue to inspire young girls to stay in the sport, to play football.
“I have a piece of my heart where I want to continue to bring more Alberta girls to the national team. Over the years there have been few and far between.”
Her home is always close to her heart.
Labbe’s right arm, from shoulder to elbow, is a tattooed tribute to her hometown of Alberta.
The ink shows the Rocky Mountains – “my happy place” – and spruce trees. A north-pointing compass shows her to be from northern Alberta. A wild rose, Alberta’s provincial flower, is twined around an anchor, reminding you to be grounded and know where you’re coming from. Under a quote “Be brave” are words you can live by.
The word “Free” is written on her wrist. She calls it a reminder “that when I’m at my best, I’m free and I don’t think I can just be myself and just be free.”
Labbe says she will take her time choosing her next adventure.
“First of all, I want to enjoy these last few months of national team activities,” she said. “Really take the time to reflect and be proud of what I’ve been able to achieve… But I’m also very confident that opportunities will come and things will be there for me on the other side.”
“But right now, I just want to enjoy this moment with my friends. my family, with the national team and celebrate properly this spring.”
There are also plans to start a family with Simmerling down the line, with the couple aiming for a summer 2023 wedding.
Simmerling made history in Rio 2016 by becoming the first Canadian athlete to compete in a different sport at three different Olympic Games. She made her Olympic debut in alpine skiing in Vancouver in 2010, competed in ski cross in Sochi in 2014 and competed in track cycling team pursuits at both the Rio and Tokyo Games.
Simmerling retired to Tokyo, where her team pursuit team finished fourth in a Canadian record time.
Labbe played collegiate football at the University of Connecticut and began her professional career in Sweden in 2009, where she played for Pitea IF and then KIF Orebro DFF before returning to North America in 2014 to join Washington.
In March 2018, she signed with the Calgary Foothills, a men’s team. But league rules prevented them from playing.
Labbe joined Sweden’s Linkopings FC before returning to the United States to join North Carolina Courage in winning the 2019 NWSL Championship.
— Neil Davidson THE CANADIAN PRESS
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