Diane Roy (born January 9, 1971) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

wheelchair racer Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted (when combined with another ...

. Between 1996 and 2016 she competed at six consecutive Paralympics and five consecutive world championships and won 11 medals, including a gold medal in the marathon at the 2006 World Championships.Diane Roy
. paralympic.ca

Career

The

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

featured a demonstration of the women's 800 m wheelchair event, in which Roy finished fourth. She also participated in the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

, taking a bronze medal in both the 400 metre and 1500 metre races. At the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

Roy was initially awarded the gold medal in the 5000 m T54. However a re-run of the race was ordered by the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...

following protests by the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

, US and

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

teams after six competitors were involved in a crash on the penultimate lap. The re-run race resulted in the same three athletes winning medals but in a different order, with Roy placing second. In 2009, she was inducted into the

Terry Fox Hall of Fame The Canadian Disability Hall of Fame (formerly the Terry Fox Hall of Fame), recognizes "outstanding Canadians who have made extraordinary contributions to enriching the quality of life for people with physical disabilities". It is run by the Canadia ...

Personal life

Roy spent the majority of her childhood on a farm in

Lac-des-Aigles, Quebec Lac-des-Aigles is a municipality in the Témiscouata Regional County Municipality of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. The population is 495. Its economy is mainly agricultural and forestry-based. It is located southeast of Rimouski ...

. She is the seventh of eight children, having five brothers and two sisters. Once she entered high school, Roy developed an interest in several sports, including basketball, badminton, downhill skiing, tennis, and handball in particular, which she played until her last year of high school. At age 17, an all terrain vehicle accident left Roy with a paralyzing injury and without the use of her legs. It halted her activities temporarily.Official Website – About
dianeroy.com Since about 1998 Roy works as an administrative assistant for

Royal LePage Royal LePage is a Canadian real estate franchiser and owner-operator with more than 600 locations and over 18,000 Realtors in Canada. The company was founded on July 2, 1913 in Toronto, Canada by then 26-year-old Albert E. LePage, under the name ...

. She has a son Émile.

References

External links