Local MLA Michelle Stilwell was in fine form at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships in Lyon, France, last weekend, as the dedicated, decorated, Parksville wheelchair racer garnered gold medals in all three events she entered and set a world record and a new meet record to boot.
It was Stilwell’s first big international meet since being elected as Liberal MLA for Parksville-Qualicum in May.
On Thursday, Stilwell blasted down the track for a world record time of 2:14.79 in the Women’s T52 (wheelchair classification) 800-metre event.
“Fantastic!” Stilwell was quoted after the race. “I had so much pleasure while racing. I couldn’t have dreamt better; a world record and a gold medal.”
Her winning time eclipsed the previous world record of 2:16.71 set in 2005 by Canadian Lisa Frank.
The race was originally run the day before, but there was a crash in that one which forced the re-run on Thursday.
Stilwell was leading Wednesday’s 800 m race when her longtime rival Marieke Vervoort of Belgium took her out in the final 200 m.
“I was on the inside lane, she hit her compensator early and turned into me, so she flipped and I went up into a wheely and I saved myself, I basically rolled over top of her and completed the race (she finished second).”
Team Canada appealed the results, and it was determined the Belgian had impeded her progress and prevented her from finishing first, setting the stage for Thursday’s record-setting re-run.
Vervoort was sidelined for the rest of the competition after the crash and is expected to undergo surgery.
Stilwell picked up where she left off Friday night, mining gold in the 100 m event in a time of 20.45, and capped it off in the final race of the championships on Saturday, winning the T52 Wheelchair 200m event with a new meet record of 35.71 seconds.
“The wind was really tough, but to be able to power through it and cross the finish line first is such an incredible result for me. Great way to end the Games,” she said through a big smile in a post-race video interview sent to The NEWS from the Canadian Paralympic Committee. “The wind was really tough, especially coming around that last corner, it was like hitting a brick wall . . . thank goodness the training paid off today, I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
The 100 m event “was even windier,” she said, and pointed to her time, nearly two-seconds off her best.
Michelle, or ‘Mikey’ as she’s known, started preparing for the worlds “the day after London (Olympics) pretty much so almost a full year,” and part of that saw her spend January and February down under in Australia for her annual warm-weather training.
“I’m good, tired, but I feel really good,” Stilwell said when The NEWS caught up with her Sunday evening during her layover in Toronto on her way home, adding “you know when you set goals for yourself and you come up with these plans, and you prepare for them, it’s and amazing feeling of satisfaction.”
This was Stilwell’s third consecutive World Championships, which run every other year (off Olympic years). She also garnered triple gold at the event in 2011 — this was her first time setting a world record there.
Stilwell left Parksville for France July 21.
“It’s taken a lot of time management and organization to help make it happen and an incredible team of people supporting me, family, friends, and that’s been the case with all of my successes as an athlete,” she said.
She arrived home in Nanaimo Monday to a welcoming committee of family, friends and fans and said she was “very much looking forward to seeing my boys,” husband Mark and son Kai, who both celebrated birthdays Saturday (July 27).
“As MLA I’ve been responding to my e-mails from France, there is no break,” she chuckled when asked about juggling politics with sport. “It’s amazing how much work you can get done on an airplane.”
Stilwell now holds the world record in the 100 m, 200 m and 800 m events. She also holds the world record in the 400 m event but that appears to have been broken earlier this month by Vervoort at another sanctioned event in Switzerland (still under review).
The 400 m event was not offered at the worlds this year.
In the end, Team Canada, she pointed out proudly “had an incredible meet. We got 14 medals and many personal bests and Canadian records. It was quite outstanding for our team.”
