Michelle Stilwell

The Honourable Michelle Stilwell
Stilwell at the 2015 Parapan American Games
Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Parksville-Qualicum
Incumbent
Assumed office May 14, 2013
Preceded by	Ron Cantelon
Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation of British Columbia
Incumbent
Assumed office February 2, 2015
Premier	Christy Clark
Preceded by	Don McRae
Parliamentary Secretary for Healthy Living and Seniors
In office June 2013 – February 2, 2015
Premier	Christy Clark
Personal details
Born	(1974-07-04) July 4, 1974 Winnipeg, Canada[1]
Political party	Liberal
Residence	Parksville, British Columbia[1]

Michelle Stilwell

Personal information
Height	170 cm (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Weight	51 kg (112 lb)
Sport
Disability class	T52
Medal record Representing  Canada Paralympic Games Wheelchair basketball 2000 Sydney Team Paralympic athletics 2008 Beijing 100m T52 2008 Beijing 200m T52 2012 London 200m T52 2012 London 100m T52 2016 Rio de Janeiro 100m T52 2016 Rio de Janeiro 400m T52 Parapan American Games 2015 Toronto 100m T52

Michelle Stilwell (born July 4, 1974) is a Canadian wheelchair racer and politician. She is the only female Paralympic athlete to win gold medals in two separate summer sport events. Stilwell was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as a BC Liberal candidate for Parksville-Qualicum in the 2013 provincial election.^[2]

After serving as Caucus Chair and Parliamentary Secretary for Healthy Living and Seniors, Stilwell was sworn in on February 2, 2015 as Minister for Social Development and Social Innovation.^[3]

In Sydney, during the 2000 Paralympic Games, she and her team won Gold in wheelchair basketball.^[4] by beating Australia in the final 46–27. At the time, she was the only female paraplegic to compete in Basketball at the Paralympic Games. In Beijing, during the 2008 Paralympic Games, she won two gold medals in the woman's T52 200m^[5] and 100m events.^[6]

At the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Stilwell defended her Paralympic gold medal in the women’s 200m in 33.80 seconds,^[7] shattering her Games record by over two seconds. Four days later, Stilwell captured a silver medal in the 100m.

She currently holds the world record in the 100m at 18.67,^[8] the 200m at 33.58,^[9] and the 800m at 2:14.79 in the T52 class.^[10]

Biography

Stilwell, whose father is from Stuttgart, Germany and mother from the small community of Ashern, Manitoba, in Manitoba's Interlake region, was injured while piggy back riding on a friend at the age of 17, she fell down a flight of stairs and broke her neck.^[11] Multiple surgeries and complications (Osteomyelitis and acquired Arnold–Chiari malformation^[12]) arose from the fall leaving her an incomplete C7 quadriplegic. She grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba and attended River East Collegiate before her first years at the University of Winnipeg. She moved to Calgary where she completed her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Calgary.

Prior to being elected to the Legislative Assembly, Michelle was a motivational speaker and community advocate for persons with disabilities and children with special needs. Michelle is also an ambassador for ActNow BC and the Rick Hansen Foundation, and has worked on the B.C. government’s 10 by 10 Challenge to increase employment of persons with disabilities.

She represented Canada at the Sydney 2000 Summer Paralympics, where she won gold in wheelchair basketball. After her retirement from basketball competitions in 2001 she became involved in coaching young wheelchair athletes, became pregnant and gave birth to her son Kai in July 2001.

In 2004 while coaching basketball she met Peter Lawless, a National Team Athletics coach, who encouraged her to try a different sport. By 2005 she was at the European Championships, and in 2006 a 200m World Champion at Assen, Netherlands.

Stilwell attained greater success on the track winning gold in the 100m and 200m at the Beijing 2008 Summer Paralympics. This was followed by three gold medals (with World Championship records) and one silver at the 2011 World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. She won the 100m and 400m events at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.^[13]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michelle Stilwell.

• Official Liberal Party Website
• Official Wheelchair Racing Website

Cabinet of Premier of British Columbia Christy Clark (2011—)
George Abbott Suzanne Anton Pat Bell Harry Bloy Bill Bennett Mike Bernier Shirley Bond Stephanie Cadieux Ida Chong Christy Clark Rich Coleman Mike de Jong Kevin Falcon Peter Fassbender Terry Lake Blair Lekstrom Norm Letnick Margaret MacDiarmid Mary McNeil Don McRae Coralee Oakes Barry Penner Pat Pimm Mary Polak John Rustad Michelle Stilwell Moira Stilwell Ben Stewart Todd Stone Ralph Sultan Steve Thomson Amrik Virk Teresa Wat Andrew Wilkinson Naomi Yamamoto John Yap