Karina LeBlanc

Biography

Goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc is a two-time Olympian who helped Canada capture a historic bronze medal at London 2012.

LeBlanc appeared in one game in her Olympic debut at Beijing 2008 where the Canadian women’s soccer team competed at the Olympic Games for the first time ever, advancing to the quarterfinals. Four years later, she started one game at London 2012, earning a 3-0 shutout victory over South Africa in the preliminary round. Her squad went on to win Canada’s first Olympic medal in a traditional team summer sport since Berlin 1936.

LeBlanc debuted with the women’s national team in 1998 when she was just 18. In 1999, she was the youngest member of the Canadian team at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, though she did not feature. At the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup, she helped Canada to a fourth-place finish. By the end of her career in 2015, she had become the first Canadian to participate in five editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and had made 110 total international appearances, which at the time was the most all-time among Canadian goalkeepers.

LeBlanc represented Canada at three editions of the Pan American Games (1999, 2007, 2011), highlighted by a gold medal in 2011 when she stopped two penalty shots in the final. She had helped Canada win bronze four years earlier.

LeBlanc graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a degree in Business Administration and Management. She became a UNICEF Canada ambassador in 2013 and spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in 2014 on the importance of sport and challenging others to their greater purpose. Her post-competitive career includes motivational speaking, in-venue hosting, and on-air broadcasting.