Canadian Olympian quietly battled breast cancer before winning medal
Canadian tennis star Gaby Dabrowski picked up one of her greatest career accomplishments in 2024, but it was on the heels of the biggest health scare of her life.
Dabrowski, who won a bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics in mixed doubles alongside Felix Auger-Aliassime, revealed on social media today that she was only a few months removed from finding out about her breast cancer diagnosis.
“How can something so small cause such a big problem? This is the question I asked myself when I was diagnosed with breast cancer back in mid-April,” Dabrowski wrote in an Instagram post today.
Dabrowski said she felt a lump on her left breast in the spring of 2023, but a doctor initially told her “it was nothing” and not to worry. One year later, in the spring of 2024, the lump was a little bigger so she got it checked again.
“The preliminary results came back that day: cancer,” she said. “These are words you never expect to hear, and in an instant your life or the life of a loved one turns upside down.”
She underwent two surgeries, radiation, and endocrine therapy.
Dabrowski and Auger-Aliassime standing on the Olympic podium (Amber Searls/USA TODAY Sports)
“Currently I’m in a place where I have a better grasp of my treatment, side effects and how to manage them. Please know I am fully aware of how lucky I am as well, because many do not get the luxury of being able to tell their story at all.”
Dabrowski and her partner Erin Routliffe won the women’s doubles final at the WTA Finals earlier this month.
The 32-year-old Ottawa native added that the diagnosis caused a positive attitude shift.
“If you saw me smiling more on court in the past six months, it was genuine. That wasn’t always the case.
“While I have been actively working on improving my attitude for many years through therapy and other guidance, my cancer diagnosis was the catalyst for more sustained change. When the threat of losing everything I’d worked for my entire life became a real possibility, only then did I begin to authentically appreciate what I had: loving parents and friends, amazing coaches, a doubles partner who stuck by me, a real team, access to health care experts, and to play a game for a living.”