With the song ‘Celebration’ blaring in the background, John Fleming, father of Olympic gold medalist Jessie Fleming, could not contain his excitement after watching his daughter help lead her team to victory in soccer at Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
“Unbelievable! Amazing group of ladies and they deserved it,” John told Global News.
After being tied 1-1 headed into extra time and then going into a shootout with extra time, the Canadian women’s team beat Sweden in the gold medal round to take home the country’s first Olympic gold medal for soccer.
Jessie played a big part in Team Canada’s win, scoring two of the three goals in penalty kicks for Team Canada, helping to solidify the team’s gold medal finish. It was Canada’s Julia Grosso who scored the game-winning goal.
“I don’t know, all of a sudden she is pretty good at them — she is awesome,” John said when asked about his daughter’s penalty kicks.
London, Ont., is home to two members of the women’s team, Jessie and Shelina Zadorsky.
The women’s parents were together Friday morning to watch their daughters battle it out against Sweden.
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“Jessie and Shelina have known each other for so long, they are great ambassadors for London and girls’ soccer is just going to take another giant leap after this,” John said.
Shelina’s mother, Mary Zadorsky, is at a loss for what this win means for their girls.
“No words can say what a gold is,” Mary said.
“Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable; they are just an amazing group of girls and Jessie and Shelina have been friends for years.”
The Canadian woman’s soccer team won bronze in both Rio 2016 Olympics and in London back in 2012. Both Jessie and Shelina were a part of the Rio 2016 bronze medal team.
Mary Zadorsky said they thought the girls might bring home another bronze, but “gold is even better.”
The parents had hoped to be there to celebrate with their daughters in person, but due to the pandemic, families were not allowed to join Olympic athletes at the games.
Mary is planning to travel to London England to congratulate her daughter in person soon.
Both women play professionally for the FA Women’s Super League in England, Jessie as a midfielder for Chelsea and Shelina as a defender for Tottenham Hotspur.
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