Chantal Petitclerc | |
|---|---|
 Petitclerc in 2017 | |
| Canadian Senator fromGrandville | |
| Assumed office 18 March 2016 | |
| Nominated by | Justin Trudeau |
| Appointed by | David Johnston |
| Preceded by | Andrée Champagne (2014) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1969-12-15)15 December 1969 (age 55) Saint-Marc-des-Carrières, Quebec, Canada |
| Political party | Independent Senators Group |
| Spouse | James Duhamel |
| Children | Elliot Duhamel |
| Sports career | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Sport | wheelchair racer |
Medal record | |
Chantal PetitclercCC CQ MSM (born 15 December 1969) is a Canadianwheelchair racer and aSenator fromQuebec.
At the age of 13, Petitclerc lost the use of both legs in an accident when at a friend's farm, a heavy barn door fell on her, fracturing her spine at the L1-T12 vertebra.[1][2] Gaston Jacques, a high school physical education teacher, was to have a decisive influence on her life when he taught her to swim for four lunch hours a week throughout high school as she was unable to participate in the gym course.[3] In a 2011 interview, she stated that, "[swimming] really helped me get more fit and stronger, and helped me live a more independent life in a wheelchair." Swimming also allowed her to discover her competitive drive.[1] While she had previously been first in her class academically, it was her introduction to the world of competitive racing.[3]
When she was eighteen, Pierre Pomerleau, a trainer atUniversité Laval inQuebec City, introduced her towheelchair sports. Using a homemade wheelchair, she took part in her first race and came last, well behind the other competitors. However, she had fallen in love with wheelchair racing and a long and fruitful career had begun.[citation needed]
While Petitclerc was developing her skills as a wheelchair athlete, she pursued her studies, first insocial sciences at theCEGEP de Sainte-Foy and then in history at theUniversity of Alberta in Edmonton, where she registered in order to be able to train withPeter Eriksson, who remains her coach to this day.[citation needed]
Petitclerc competed in theParalympic Games for the first time inBarcelona in1992, returning with two bronze medals, the start of collection that now includes twenty one Paralympic medals, fourteen of them gold. Four years later, at theAtlanta games, she took gold medals in the 100 and 200 m events and three silvers in the 400, 800, and 1500 m races. At the2000 Summer Paralympics, she won two golds, in the 200 m and 800 m, and two silvers, in the 100 m and 400 m races. She won three gold medals (in 100 m, 200 m, and 400 m) and a bronze (800 m) at the 2002 World Championships and a gold at the2002 Commonwealth Games in the 800 m. At the2004 Summer Olympics (where wheelchair racing was an exhibition sport) she won the 800 m, and went on to an impressive showing with 5 gold medals at the2004 Summer Paralympics. When she returned from Athens in 2004, Petitclerc told reporters the2008 Summer Paralympics inBeijing would be her last big international meeting but that she will continue training and road racing for a while. For her performance in 2008, she was awarded theLou Marsh Trophy as Canadian athlete of the year[4] and the Canadian Press'sBobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada's female athlete of the year.[5] Petitclerc was also awarded the Best Female award at the Paralympic Sport Awards.[6]
With her 5 golds in the2004 Paralympics, she tied the existing Canadian gold medal record at a single Games, Winter or Summer, set byStephanie Dixon at the2000 Summer Paralympics. Her 5 golds in the2008 Paralympics tied that record. As of 2010, the record still stood.[7] As of 2012 she holds five world records for wheelchair racing.[8] As of 2019[update] she is still the most gold-medalled female paralympic athlete with 14 golds and 21 medals.[9]
She was chosen as the flagbearer of theCanadian team at the opening ceremonies of the2006 Commonwealth Games.[10]
Petitclerc lives inMontreal, and trains atComplexe sportif Claude-Robillard.
Rio Tinto Alcan is her main sponsor since 1998.
Petitclerc was appointed as a coach and mentor to the British athletics team ahead of the2012 Summer Paralympics, working alongside her former coach andUK Athletics' Paralympic head coachPeter Eriksson.[11]
Petitclerc was named the Chef de Mission for Canada's2014 Commonwealth Games team.[10] She was also named Chef de Mission for the2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.[12]
Petitclerc is married to electro-acoustic music composer James Duhamel and gave birth to son Elliot in December 2013.[1]
On 18 March 2016, Petitclerc was named to theSenate of Canada on the advice of Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau. She sits as a member of theIndependent Senators Group. Her main priorities in the Senate are health as well as the rights of persons with disabilities. In June 2016, Senator Petitclerc delivered her first speech in the Chamber on Bill C-14, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to make related amendments to other Acts (medical assistance in dying). Her speech moved many of her colleagues, when she quoted: "When you have a disability, the worst part is feeling as if you have no control over your own life, over your own body. It happens to all people with disabilities, I can assure you." She also sponsored Bill S-5, An Act to amend the Tobacco Act and the Non Smokers' Health Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts.[13]
The St-Marc-des-Carrières municipalice hockey arena now bears her name.
In 2002, Petitclerc was awarded with the Meritorious Service Medal (civil division).[14]
In 2005, Petitclerc was invested as a Knight of theOrder of Quebec.[15] That year, Petitclerc became part of theCanadian Disability Hall of Fame.[16]
On 16 June 2009, it was announced that Petitclerc would receive a star onCanada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on 12 September 2009.[17]
In 2009, she was invested as a Companion of theOrder of Canada "for her achievements as a Paralympic champion known internationally as an inspiration, and for her commitment to developing sports for athletes with a disability".[18]
In 2010, she was inducted intoCanada's Sports Hall of Fame in Calgary, Alberta.[19]
In 2012, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Alberta.[8]
Petitclerc has also received both the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal[20] and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal.[21]
In 2015, Petitclerc was inducted into the Canadian Paralympic Hall of Fame of theCanadian Paralympic Committee.[22]
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