Stephanie Labbe kept smiling during gold medal shootout and Canadians loved it
With the weight of the country on her shoulders, Stephanie Labbe was as cool as can be.
The Canadian goalkeeper allowed just two goals on six Swedish shots in the penalty shootout today, securing Canada’s first-ever gold medal in Olympic soccer.
And she did it all with a big smile on her face.
Labbe dove to her left to stop Jonna Andersson on Sweden’s sixth shot, setting up Canadian midfielder Julia Grosso for the winning kick.
STEPH LABBÉ MAKES THE SAVE AND GIVES CANADA A SHOT#CANWNT pic.twitter.com/IIT9JS5IoM
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 6, 2021
It’s easy to smile after making a save, but the Edmonton native was seen on the television broadcast flashing a grin in the direction of Team Sweden players prior to their attempts on multiple occasions.
They never had a chance.
It’s not the usual game face you’d probably expect in a pressure-packed moment, but the grinning goalkeeper had reason to be confident.
“There’s no pressure on me; I’m not supposed to make saves,” Labbe told reporters after the game. “And if I can make a save, it’s great. So I go into it just like super calm and relaxed, and just like totally being in the moment and doing everything that I can to just trust myself.”
Fans back home in Canada loved every minute of it.
I aspire to face any pressure in life like Stephanie Labbé does #CANWNT pic.twitter.com/LoGNigm7FW
— Jerome Cheng (@jumbielime) August 6, 2021
I too, like Steph Labbé, smile maniacally at people when they’re coming for me 🥰
— kristyna petrollini (@kpetrollini) August 6, 2021
Stéphanie Labbé will block your kick with a smile on her face. She’s gangsta.
— Kevin Raphael (@kevinraphael21) August 6, 2021
If I was a swede getting ready to take a pk and labbe just smiled at me like this is definitely miss pic.twitter.com/uRIQyZO3Q0
— mk (@debinhafanclub) August 6, 2021
Steph Labbe is a beast. Smiles all the way through PKs, saves 2, wins gold
— Alyssa Ally 🌵 (@AlyssaAlly) August 6, 2021
She just smiles under pressure #Labbe
Our golden goalie! #Olympics pic.twitter.com/KKxrJx13q1— 🏒- CG (@Leaf4Ever) August 6, 2021
Labbé's smile throughout all of that was major Sicko stuff.
— Bonk's Mullet (@BonksMullet) August 6, 2021
The smirks and smiles on Steph Labbe's face staring down a penalty. That confidence is FANTASTIC and is exactly what is needed in those moments. Champ behaviour!
— Chirag Patney (@ChiragPatney) August 6, 2021
The fact Labbe did all that with a monster smile on her face the whole time 🐐🐐🐐
— Dane Belbeck (@ZDane7) August 6, 2021
Labbe all smiles during the shootout just blows my mind
— Stephanie Labbé Superfan (@bastage42) August 6, 2021
Going to incorporate @stephlabbe1 Labbe's confident "got this" smile in every high pressure situation I find myself in from now on. #CANWNT
— sumitarora (@sumitarora) August 6, 2021
Labbe had an outstanding tournament for Canada, allowing just two goals in five matches, with clean sheets in the quarter-final against Brazil and the semi-final against the United States.
Someone was so impressed with her performance that they updated her Wikipedia page with the position of “National Minister of Defence,” which earned a shoutout from Harjit Sajjan.
From one MND to another, thank you for defending the flag and for helping bring home this long awaited gold🥇to Canada!
So proud of all of you!
🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 https://t.co/WAqyLWShPe— Harjit Sajjan (@HarjitSajjan) August 6, 2021
This is Labbe’s second Olympic medal, as she led Canada to bronze at Rio 2016.
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