Denyse Julien

Career

Between 1981 and 2004 Julien won a record 31 Canadian National Championship events, thirteen in singles, eight in women's doubles, and ten in mixed doubles. She also captured five events at the Canadian Open Championships, including women's singles in 1989. Julien earned four individual medals at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games. These include a silver medal in singles (1990), and a silver (1986) and two bronzes (1990, 1994) in women's doubles. Julien's record in another quadrennial competition, the Pan American Games, has been particularly noteworthy. A few months shy of her 35th birthday she won all three events at Mar del Plata, Argentina in 1995 when badminton was introduced into these Games. She won medals in each event at the next competition in Winnipeg in 1999, and a silver in women's doubles and a gold in mixed doubles at the 2003 competition in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Julien won a number of titles in Europe, including women's singles at French (1982) and Welsh (1991, 1995) Opens, women's doubles at the Austrian International (1983), and mixed doubles at the Portugal Open (1998). She competed in three Olympic Games (1992, 1996, 2004), the highlight of which was winning two rounds of singles at the 1992 Games in Barcelona before bowing to China's reigning world champion Tang Jiuhong.