Michelle Stilwell (''nee'' Bauknecht; 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
The British Columbia Liberal Party, often shortened to the BC Liberals, is a centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition. Subsequent to the 2020 British Columbia general ...
candidate for
Parksville-Qualicum
Parksville-Qualicum is the name of a provincial electoral district in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. It was first contested in the 1991 British Columbia general election, 1991 election. Following ...
in the
2013 provincial election. She represented Canada at the
2000 Summer Paralympics,
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 ...
, and
2012 Summer Paralympics.
Early life and education
Stilwell was born on July 4, 1974, in
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
, Canada.
While attending
River East Collegiate, she broke her neck from a fall and became an incomplete quadriplegic. After the accident, she competed in
wheelchair basketball
Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...
, through which she met her husband Mark at the 1996 National Championships in Montreal.
Stilwell eventually moved to
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
where she completed her
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
degree at the
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...
in 1999.
Paralympic career
![Michelle Stilwell - 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Michelle_Stilwell_-_2013_IPC_Athletics_World_Championships.jpg)
Stilwell stayed in Calgary from 1997 until 2000 to train for the
Canada women's national wheelchair basketball team
The Canada women's national wheelchair basketball team is one of Canada's most successful national sporting teams. It is the only national women's wheelchair basketball team to have won three consecutive gold medals at the Paralympic Games in 199 ...
.
She competed as a reserve for Team Canada at the
2000 Paralympic Games, where her team won a gold medal. Afterwards, Stilwell, her husband Mark, and their newborn son moved to Vancouver Island.
However, Stilwell was forced to forgo wheelchair basketball after undergoing surgery for a herniated brain stem. Although was unable to compete at a national level, Stilwell continued to play basketball locally where she was spotted by Coach Peter Lawless, who convinced her to try for wheelchair racing.
Stilwell qualified for the
2008 Paralympic Games
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 wa ...
where she won two gold medals in the woman's
T52 200m and
100m events. This was followed by three gold medals (with World Championship records) and one silver at the 2011 World Championships in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
At the
London 2012 Paralympic Games, Stilwell defended her Paralympic gold medal in the women's
200m
The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...
in 33.80 seconds, shattering her Games record by over two seconds. Four days later, Stilwell captured a silver medal in the
100m after mishap caused her to fall behind
Marieke Vervoort
Marieke Vervoort (10 May 1979 – 22 October 2019) was a Belgian Paralympic athlete with reflex sympathetic dystrophy. She won several medals at the Paralympics, and she received worldwide attention in 2016 when she revealed that she was consid ...
. The following year, she competed in the
2013 IPC Athletics World Championships and set a new world record in the women's T52 class 800 metres.
In 2016, her last Paralympic Games, Stilwell earned a gold medal while also setting a Paralympics record during the T52 wheelchair 400 metres race, with a time of one minute and 5.42 seconds. The following year, Stilwell announced her retirement from competitive sports and 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 ...
.
Stilwell was inducted into the
Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame
The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a Canadian museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, dedicated to honoring the history and achievements of sports in Manitoba. The organization began in 1980, and then opened a museum in The Forks in 1993. Afte ...
in 2019.
Political career
In 2013, Stilwell campaigned to become the
BC Liberal
The British Columbia Liberal Party, often shortened to the BC Liberals, is a centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition. Subsequent to the 2020 British Columbia general ...
candidate for
Parksville-Qualicum
Parksville-Qualicum is the name of a provincial electoral district in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. It was first contested in the 1991 British Columbia general election, 1991 election. Following ...
in the
2013 provincial election. She was elected to the
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and served as
Caucus Chair and
Parliamentary Secretary for
Healthy Living and Seniors for two years before being sworn in as
Minister for Social Development and Social Innovation.
Stillwell was re-elected in 2017, but lost her seat in the 2020 election.
Electoral record
References
External links
*
*
Michelle Stilwell - Cœur HandisportOfficial Liberal Party WebsiteOfficial Wheelchair Racing Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stilwell, Michelle
1974 births
Living people
Wheelchair basketball players at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
British Columbia Liberal Party MLAs
Canadian politicians with disabilities
Canadian sportsperson-politicians
Canadian female wheelchair racers
Women government ministers of Canada
Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia
Olympic wheelchair racers of Canada
Paralympic gold medalists for Canada
People from Parksville, British Columbia
Politicians from Winnipeg
Athletes from Winnipeg
Women MLAs in British Columbia
World record holders in Paralympic athletics
Paralympic silver medalists for Canada
21st-century Canadian politicians
21st-century Canadian women politicians
Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
Paralympic track and field athletes of Canada
Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball
People with tetraplegia
Medalists at the 2015 Parapan American Games