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September 6 2006, ASSEN, The Netherlands - Michelle Stilwell of Nanoose Bay, B.C., won the gold medal in the women’s 200-metres wheelchair race for quadriplegics on Wednesday at the world track and field championships for athletes with a disability.
Chantal Petitclerc of Montreal notched her second silver in two days placing second in the women’s 800-metre wheelchair race for paraplegics. After four days of competition Canada has eight medals with two gold, four silver and two bronze.
In the women’s 200 wheelchair race for quads, Stilwell clocked a Games record 39.51 seconds for her second medal of the competition. She also won silver in the 100 on Monday. Pia Schmid of Switzerland, the 100 winner, was second on Wednesday in 42.75.
‘’I’m in shock that I’ve been able to come here and do this,’’ said Stilwell, a former member of the women’s national wheelchair basketball team competing at her first track and field worlds. ‘’I relied on the same plan as on Monday except this time it went a lot better. I was a lot more comfortable and lot less stressed. Plus my husband and parents arrived here today to see me race and that gave me an extra boost as well.’’
In the women’s 800-metre wheelchair race for paraplegics, Edith Hunkeler of Switzerland took the gold in 1:55.33 just edging Petitclerc in second in 1:55.45. Diane Roy of Sherbrooke, Que., was fifth in 1:57.06. Petitclerc, who missed two months of training this year due to illness, also won silver in the 100 on Tuesday.
‘’Silver isn’t my favourite colour but this race was a lot better for me than yesterday,’’ said Petitclerc, a quintuple Paralympic Games champion in 2004. ‘’Yesterday I simply didn’t race well; today I gave it everything I had, and stayed relaxed. Edith has been the top racer in the world all year, and it came right down to the wire between us. I was just missing a little something at the end.’’
Other Canadian finalists Wednesday were: Dean Bergeron of Quebec City and André Beaudoin of Montreal, fourth and seventh in the men’s 800 wheelchair race for quads; Kris Vriend of Edmonton (with a personal best 20.06 metres) and Monique Hartin of Omemee, Ont., fourth and ninth in the women’s discus for cerebral palsy; Dustin Walsh of Coquitlam, B.C., fourth in the men’s 100 for visually impaired; Jim Shaw of Newcastle, Ont., fourth in the men’s discus for cerebral palsy; and Eric Flemming of Oshawa, Ont., seventh in the men’s 100 for cerebral palsy.
Petitclerc and Tracey Ferguson of Toronto advanced to the 400-metre final while Keira-Lyn Frie of Saskatoon was eliminated. Bergeron and Beaudoin qualified for the 100 final and Brent Lakatos of Dorval, Que., advanced to another wheelchair 100-metre final.
In a women’s 200 wheelchair semifinal, Chelsea Clark of Mississauga missed a berth in the final by one spot clocking a personal best 35.42 for ninth overall. Ilana Duff of Saskatoon was also eliminated. Courtney Knight of Burnaby, B.C., was 12th in the women’s 100 semifinals for visually impaired and eliminated as was Barry Phelan of Wingham, Ont., in the 100 for cerebral palsy.
In the men’s 5,000 wheelchair race for paraplegics, Michel Filteau of St-Jean-Baptiste, Que., Carl Marquis of Sherbrooke, Que., and Mark Ledo of Maple, Ont., did not qualify for the final. James Baker of Ottawa, Colin Mathieson of Winnipeg and Curtis Thom of Mississauga, Ont., were also eliminated in heats in the men’s 100 wheelchair race for paraplegics.
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