Claire Backhouse-Sharpe ( Backhouse; born May 13, 1958) is a Canadian badminton player and coach. Between 1978 and 1994, she competed in five editions of the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, winning a single gold medal and five silver medals. Backhouse-Sharpe also participated in the

World Badminton Championships The BWF World Championships, formerly known as IBF World Championships, and also known as the World Badminton Championships, is a badminton tournament sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). The tournament is one of the most prestigious i ...

and Uber Cup on five occasions each as part of the Canada national badminton team. She won multiple national and regional titles and was assistant coach and manager of the British Columbia Badminton team at the 1994

Canada Winter Games Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total ...

and the 1995 Western Canada Games. Backhouse-Sharpe was inducted into the

BC Sports Hall of Fame The BC Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in BC Place Stadium, at Gate A, the main entrance to the stadium, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It collects, preserves, studies and interprets materials that relate to British Columbia's spo ...

in 1997 and the Badminton Canada Hall of Fame.

Personal background

On May 13, 1958, Backhouse-Sharpe was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada, and her hometown was listed as

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

. She is the grand daughter of a

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

player who won the British Open Squash Championship, and a tennis player who played at Wimbledon. Backhouse-Sharpe attended the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

as an arts student. In mid-1985, she married vice-president of the British Columbia Badminton Association Doug Sharp. They have three children. Backhouse-Sharpe trained while pregnant with her third child, and frequently took her children to worldwide badminton events. She also worked in the federal government clerical department full-time outside of

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

Career

Backhouse-Sharpe began playing badminton at age 12 combining her other interests in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, squash,

street hockey Street hockey (also known as shinny, dek hockey, ball hockey, road hockey) is a collection of team sport variants played outdoors either on foot or with wheeled skates, using a either a ball or puck designed for play on flat, dry surfaces. The ...

and tennis. At 17, she decided to specialize in badminton. She began playing for the Canada national badminton team in either 1976 or 1977, and was listed at and . As a rookie and an unseeded entrant, Backhouse-Sharpe reached the semi-finals of the women's doubles at the 1978 All England Open Badminton Championships with her partner Jane Youngberg, defeating the Dutch and English sides in the preceding rounds before losing to the Japanese squad. She went on to claim silver medals in both the women's doubles with Youngberg and the mixed team event with five other Canadian players at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. Backhouse-Sharpe went on to win two gold medals in the doubles and mixed doubles at the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Panamericanos de 1979''), officially the VIII Pan American Games were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15 ...

. She got affected by

tendinitis Tendinopathy, a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder (rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow (tennis elbo ...

in both her knees in late 1979, and underwent surgery in July 1980. Backhouse-Sharpe was one of ten badminton players to be selected by the Canadian Badminton Association to compete at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. There, she and

Johanne Falardeau Johanne Falardeau (born 1961) is a retired Canadian badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singl ...

won the gold medal by defeating the No. 1 seeded English team in the final in the women's doubles and the silver medal with five other Canadians in the team competition. At the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Backhouse-Sharpe won the silver medal for the mixed team competition in a side of six as well as competing in three other events without winning any medals.

She was one of two representatives of Canada to be invited by the

International Badminton Federation The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine member ...

to enter the exhibition badminton tournament at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in Seoul. At the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, Backhouse-Sharpe was part of the six-player silver medal winning squad of the mixed team competition. She participated in two events at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games (French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling ...

in Victoria but did not medal in either of them. As a member of the Canada national badminton squad, she participated in the

five times in 1978, 1980,

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

and the

Uber Cup The Uber Cup, sometimes called the World Women's Team Championships, is a major international badminton competition contested by women's national badminton teams. First held in 1956–1957 and contested at three year intervals, it has been contes ...

in 1978,

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

. She took the U.S. Open Badminton Championships on eight occasions and the Canadian Open twice as well as winning fifteen Canadian national championships (two Junior, three Intermediate and ten Senior) and several Canadian National Grand Prix accolades and provincial titles. Backhouse-Sharpe was named the recipient of the Yonex Outstanding Canadian Player Award at both the 1982 Canadian Open and the 1984 German Open and was named the 1994 Badminton Canada Player of the Year. Post-retirement, she was assistant coach and manager of the British Columbia Badminton squad at the 1994

and the 1995 Western Canada Games. Backhouse-Sharpe was influential in altering

Sport Canada Sport Canada is a branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage that develops federal sport policy in Canada, provides funding programs in support of sport, and administers special projects related to sport. Its mission "to enhance opportuniti ...

's Athlete Assistance Program policy in relation to parenthood, pregnancy and woman athletes. In May 1997, she was inducted into the

in a ceremony at the

Hotel Vancouver The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, formerly and still informally called the Hotel Vancouver, is a historic hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia. Located along West Georgia Street the hotel is situated within the city's Financial District, in Downtow ...

. Backhouse-Sharpe was elected to the board of directors of

Badminton Canada Badminton Canada is the national governing body for the sport of badminton in Canada. The association is composed of 13 member associations representing all of the provinces and territories of Canada. History The association was founded as Cana ...

on a one-year term starting in July 2018. She is a inductee of the Badminton Canada Hall of Fame for her playing career.

Playing style

She played left-handed and had a strong smash that was improved upon when she commenced weight training. Backhouse-Sharpe trained six days a week and twice each day when possible; her training included aerobics classes, running and practice with fellow player Sandra Skillings.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Backhouse-Sharpe, Claire 1958 births Living people University of British Columbia alumni Badminton players at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Canadian female badminton players Commonwealth Games medallists in badminton Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada Sportspeople from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian women 21st-century Canadian women Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games