Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (born 26 August 1982) is a Canadian retired

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athletic competition. She was born in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, and currently lives in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

Personal

Born in Scarborough, Ontario, Lopes-Schliep's heritage is Guyanese and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

. She is the first cousin of

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player

Dwayne De Rosario Dwayne Anthony De Rosario OOnt (born May 15, 1978) is a Canadian former professional soccer player, who played as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. De Rosario last played for the Mississauga MetroStars of the Major Arena Soccer League. ...

. Lopes-Schliep attended the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Universit ...

. She married former University of Nebraska

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player Bronsen Schliep in the fall of 2007. They currently reside in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, where he practices

dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions o ...

Career

In 2004 Priscilla became the 2004 NCAA Indoor Champion in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 7.82 as her personal best. Lopes-Schliep won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

at the

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 women's 100 m hurdles. It was the first medal for Canada in

Athletics at the Summer Olympics Athletics has been contested at every Summer Olympics since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The athletics program traces its earliest roots to events used in the ancient Greek Olympics. The modern program in ...

since the 1996 Games and the first medal for a Canadian woman in Olympic track and field since the 1992 Games. At the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

, Lopes-Schliep won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the 100 m hurdles in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, in a time of 12.54s. She failed to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, having finished 7th in the 100m hurdles at the 2012 Canadian Olympic trials for track and field after she struck a hurdle and fell.

Genetics

Lopes-Schliep has the

LMNA Pre-lamin A/C or lamin A/C is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''LMNA'' gene. Lamin A/C belongs to the lamin family of proteins. Function In the setting of ZMPSTE24 deficiency, the final step of lamin processing does not occur, re ...

R482W gene mutation, and was diagnosed with Dunnigan-type Lipodystrophy. The diagnosis came from DIY research conducted by Jill Viles, an Iowa mother without any medical training but who had

Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD) is a type of muscular dystrophy, a group of heritable diseases that cause progressive impairment of muscles. EDMD affects muscles used for movement (skeletal muscles), causing atrophy, weakness and contra ...

and who spotted physical similarities between herself and Lopes-Schliep, and encouraged her to undergo genetic testing. The results confirmed Dunnigan-type Lipodystrophy, and alerted Lopes-Schliep to a potential

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormones. There are two main types: acute pancreatitis, and chronic pancr ...

attack due to the high levels of fat in her blood, though this was avoided by modifying her diet.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

References

External links

Official website
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopes-Schliep, Priscilla 1982 births Living people Athletes from Toronto Canadian female hurdlers Sportspeople from Scarborough, Toronto Olympic track and field athletes of Canada Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics University of Nebraska alumni Canadian sportspeople of Guyanese descent Canadian people of Portuguese descent World Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Canada Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Diamond League winners