The Honourable
Chantal Petitclerc
CC CQ MSM
Petitclerc in 2017
Canadian Senator
from Grandville
Assumed office
March 18, 2016
Nominated byJustin Trudeau
Appointed byDavid Johnston
Preceded byAndrée Champagne (2014)
Personal details
Born (1969-12-15) December 15, 1969
Saint-Marc-des-Carrières, Quebec, Canada
Political partyIndependent Senators Group
SpouseJames Duhamel
ChildrenElliot Duhamel
Sports career
Country Canada
Sportwheelchair racer
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Canada
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta 100 m T54
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta 200 m T54
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 200 m T54
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 800 m T54
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens 100 m T54
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens 200 m T54
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens 400 m T54
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens 800 m T54
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens 1500 m T54
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing 100 m T54
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing 200 m T54
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing 400 m T54
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing 800 m T54
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing 1500 m T54
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta 400 m T54
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta 800 m T54
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta 1500 m T54
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney 100 m T54
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney 400 m T54
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Barcelona 200 m TW4
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Barcelona 800 m TW4

Chantal Petitclerc CC CQ MSM (born December 15, 1969) is a Canadian wheelchair racer and a Senator from Quebec.

Early life

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]

Sport

When she was eighteen, Pierre Pomerleau, a trainer at Université Laval in Quebec City, introduced her to wheelchair 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.

While Petitclerc was developing her skills as a wheelchair athlete, she pursued her studies, first in social sciences at the CEGEP de Sainte-Foy and then in history at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where she registered in order to be able to train with Peter Eriksson, who remains her coach to this day.

Petitclerc competed in the Paralympic Games for the first time in Barcelona in 1992, returning with two bronze medals, the start of collection that now includes twenty one Paralympic medals, fourteen of them gold. Four years later, at the Atlanta games, she took gold medals in the 100 and 200 m events and three silvers in the 400, 800, and 1500 m races. At the 2000 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 the 2002 Commonwealth Games in the 800 m. At the 2004 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 the 2004 Summer Paralympics. When she returned from Athens in 2004, Petitclerc told reporters the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing 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 the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canadian athlete of the year[4] and the Canadian Press's Bobbie 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 the 2004 Paralympics, she tied the existing Canadian gold medal record at a single Games, Winter or Summer, set by Stephanie Dixon at the 2000 Summer Paralympics. Her 5 golds in the 2008 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 she is still the most gold-medalled female paralympic athlete with 14 golds and 21 medals.[9]

She was chosen as the flagbearer of the Canadian team at the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Commonwealth Games.[10]

Petitclerc lives in Montreal, and trains at Complexe 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 the 2012 Summer Paralympics, working alongside her former coach and UK Athletics' Paralympic head coach Peter Eriksson.[11]

Petitclerc was named the Chef de Mission for Canada's 2014 Commonwealth Games team.[10] She was also named Chef de Mission for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.[12]

Personal life

Petitclerc is married to electro-acoustic music composer James Duhamel and gave birth to son Elliot in December 2013.[1]

Senate

On March 18, 2016, Petitclerc was named to the Senate of Canada on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. She sits as a member of the Independent 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]

Honours and awards

The St-Marc-des-Carrières municipal ice 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 the Order of Quebec[15] That year, Petitclerc became part of the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame.[16]

On June 16, 2009, it was announced that Petitclerc would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on September 12, 2009.[17]

In 2009, she was invested as a Companion of the Order 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 into Canada'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 the Canadian Paralympic Committee.[22]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Freeborn, Jeremy. "Chantal Petitclerc". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Kaminker, Laura (1 January 2008). "2007 Person of the Year: Chantal Petitclerc". New Mobility.
  3. 1 2 Wong, Jan (27 December 2004). "Chantal Petitclerc, 2004". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Petitclerc wins 2008 Lou Marsh Award". The Sports Network. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  5. ↑ "Petitclerc voted CP's female athlete of the year". The Sports Network. 26 December 2008. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  6. ↑ "Paralympic Awards Winners Honoured in Kuala Lumpur". International Paralympic Committee. 21 November 2009.
  7. ↑ Vancouver Sun, "Woolstencroft wins fifth gold medal" Archived 2018-10-04 at the Wayback Machine, CanWest News Service, 21 March 2010 (accessed 21 March 2010)
  8. 1 2 Roy-Brenneis, Derek (30 April 2012). "UAlberta honorary degrees announced". University of Alberta. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012.
  9. ↑ "History of para athletics". World Para athletics.
  10. 1 2 "Chantal Petitclerc brings passion to Commonwealth Games". Glasgow 2014 XX Commonwealth Games. CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  11. ↑ "Chantal Petitclerc to join GB Paralympic athletics team as coach". bbc.co.uk. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  12. ↑ "Chantal Petitclerc named Canada's chef de mission for Rio Paralympics". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "Murray Sinclair, Chantal Peticlerc among 7 new Liberal-appointed Senators". CBC. CBC News. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  14. ↑ "Honours Secretariat, Governor General of Canada". Honours Secretariat, Office of the governor General. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "Order of Quebec". Order of Quebec. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  16. ↑ "Previous Hall of Fame Inductees". The Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Person. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  17. ↑ "The Stars Align at the 12th Annual Canada's Walk of Fame". Canada's Walk of Fame. 16 June 2009. Archived from the original on 20 June 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  18. ↑ "Governor General announces 60 new appointments to the Order of Canada". 1 July 2009. Archived from the original on 5 July 2009.
  19. ↑ "Roy, Hughes and Petitclerc head Canadian Sports Hall of Fame class". Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  20. ↑ "Honours Secretariat, Governor General of Canada". Honours Secretariat, Office of the governor General. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  21. ↑ "Honours Secretariat, Governor General of Canada". Honours Secretariat, Office of the governor General. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  22. ↑ "Inductees". Canadian Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
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