Jane S. Thornton is a Canadian Clinician Scientist,

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

rower and international advocate for physical activity. She is the

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

in Injury Prevention and Physical Activity for Health at the University of Western Ontario. She was born in

Fredericton, New Brunswick Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

. She won a gold medal at the

2006 World Rowing Championships The 2006 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 20 to 27 August 2006 at Dorney Lake, Eton, Great Britain. Medal summary Men Non-Olympic classes Women Non-Olympic classes Wettbewerbe des Pararuderns ...

in the women's coxless pairs with Darcy Marquardt. She finished in fourth place at the Beijing

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in the women's eights with Ashley Brzozowicz, Darcy Marquardt,

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Romina Stefancic Romina Stefancic (born July 21, 1978) is a Slovenian-Canadian rower. Born in Slovenia, she received Canadian citizenship in 2004, prior to competing in the 2004 Summer Olympics. She finished in fourth place at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in ...

, Andréanne Morin, Heather Mandoli and cox Lesley Thompson-Willie. Thornton earned a BSc, MSc and Ph.D. in Kinesiology and Sport Medicine from the University of Western Ontario before attending medical school at the University of Toronto, where she added an MD to her list of academic credentials. Following medical school, she undertook a year of medical residency abroad in Switzerland and gained valuable international experience to fuel her passion for the use of physical activity for prevention and treatment of chronic disease.

International rowing

From 2001 to 2011, Thornton competed as a member of Canada's National Rowing Team. One of her chief accomplishments during this time was an undefeated international season in the Women's Pair with partner Darcy Marquardt that culminated in victory at the 2006 World Rowing Championships at Eton-Dorney, UK. The duo qualified the Women's Pair for the Beijing 2008 Olympics the following year at the 2007 World Rowing Championships. In the spring of 2008, Thornton was assigned to stroke the Women's Eight at the final Olympic qualification regatta where the crew secured a berth for the Games. That crew went on to come fourth in Beijing by the narrowest of margins (just 0.72 seconds separated 2nd place from 4th). Other notable accomplishments representing Canada during this period include three Canadian National Championship titles in the Women's Pair, three World Cup podium performances in the Women's Pair and Eight, Commonwealth Rowing Championship wins in the Women's Single and Qruple Sculls and gold at the World University Rowing Championships in the Women's Single and Double Sculls. In 2006 Thornton and Marquardt were Canadian Sports Awards finalist in the "Partners of the Year" category. Thornton was named Honorary Team Captain for Team New Brunswick at the 2009 Canada Summer Games. In 2010, she was further honoured as a torchbearer in the Olympic Torch Relay during the lead up to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Rowing Canada has recognised Thornton with three separate awards: the Rowing Canada Aviron Award of Merit (the highest award conferred by Rowing Canada) "in recognition of exceptional service to rowing as a competitive athlete"; the Rowing Canada Aviron Centennial Medal for outstanding contribution to Canadian rowing; and the Rowing Canada Aviron International Achievement Award.

Social responsibility

In 2015, Thornton was awarded the AthletesCAN Athlete Social Responsibility Award for her efforts to provide mentorship, inspiration and leadership to developing athletes within Canada's rowing community as well as her contributions to push forward the promotion and recognition of athlete social responsibility internationally. Thornton has additionally been involved as an Athlete Ambassador at Right to Play Canada, in which capacity she travelled to Uganda in 2009.

International experience

During the course of her education and athletic pursuits, Thornton sought out many international experiences to complement her research, including further medical training in six different countries. She has developed educational resources and medical curricula in Switzerland, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, and Canada and lectures on the topic internationally.

Selected publications

Thornton has contributed to a number of publications in leading medical journals including the following: # # #

References

Social media

External links

Bio page Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic

* ttps://olympic.ca/team-canada/jane-thornton/ Profileat the Canadian Olympic Committee
Profile
at Rowing Canada
Canadian Medical Association: Demand A Plan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Jane 1978 births Canadian female rowers Olympic rowers for Canada Sportspeople from Fredericton Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Canada Living people University of Western Ontario alumni University of Toronto alumni Canadian women scientists Canadian women physicians