Michelle Russell (born June 27, 1992) 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 ...

sprint kayak Sprint kayak is a sport held on calm water (lakes, flatwater streams, etc. with little waves). The paddler is seated, facing forward, and uses a double-bladed paddle pulling the blade through the water on alternate sides to propel the boat forward ...

er.

Career

Her home club is the Cheema Aquatic Club in

Fall River, Nova Scotia Fall River is a suburban community located in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Halifax Regional Municipality. It is located north-northeast of the Bedford Basin, northeast of Bedford and Lower Sackville and north of Waverley. Fall River's name i ...

, Canada. As a 17-year-old at the

2009 Canada Games The 2009 Canada Summer Games were held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island from August 15 to 29. Medal standings The following is the medal table for the 2009 Canada Summer Games. Events *Athletics *Baseball *Basketball *Canoe/Kayak *Cyclin ...

Russell represented

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

where she won two gold medals in K-4 and K-2, as well as two Silver medals in K-1 1000 and K-1 2000 m. That very same year, Russell was picked as the female K-1, to represent Canada at the 2009 Junior Worlds in Moscow Russia, where she finished 8th and 10th in the K-1 500 and K-1 1000. 2012 was her first World Cup tour where she took home a bronze in K1 200 relay. In 2013, she made four World Cup finals in K1 events and placed fourteenth in K1 200 at Senior Worlds. At the 2013 Under-23 World Championships in

Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-o ...

she paddled to victory for Canada and claimed the gold medal in the K-1 200m, as well as receiving a bronze medal in the K-1 500. She has also won numerous medals at the national level. In 2014, she once again made the Canadian Senior Worlds team that competed in two World Cup events, as well as the senior World Championships in

Moscow, Russia Moscow ( , American English, US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia. The city stands on t ...

. At World Cup event in Racice, she placed 8th in K-1 5000 and 12th in K-1 200. At the World Cup in Szeged, she placed 15th in the K-1 5000, 15th in the K-1 200. At the World Championship, she raced the K-1 200 relay event where she and her team placed 7th, as well as racing the K-1 200 event where she placed 13th and the K-2 500 event where she also placed 13th. She is currently on the World Top Athlete list for Canoe Kayak as of 2013, which meant she has one of the best times ever recorded by a female kayaker at a world level (Wellen, 2013). Her time 39,980 seconds, is the 8th fastest at the 200m distance ever recorded by a female kayaker. As of 2014, she is still on the list but is ranked at 9th. She is currently a member of the Canoe Kayak Canada Senior National team. In March 2021, Russell was named to Canada's 2020 Olympic team.

Results

*2013 U23 World Championships (Welland, Canada) K1 200 – Gold *2013 U23 World Championships (Welland, Canada) K1 500 – Bronze *2013 World Championships (Duisburg, Germany) K1 200 – 14th *2013 World Cup 3 (Poznan, Poland) K1 200 – 6th *2013 World Cup 3 (Poznan, Poland) K1 500 – 7th *2013 World Cup 3 (Racice, Czech Republic) K1 200 – 9th *2013 World Cup 3 (Racice, Czech Republic) K1 500 – 9th *2009 Junior World Championships (Moscow, Russia) K4 500 – 8th *2009 Junior World Championships (Moscow, Russia) K1 1000 – 10th

References

External links

CanoeKayak Canada
profile of Michelle Russell {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Michelle 1992 births Canadian female canoeists Living people Sportspeople from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in canoeing Canoeists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Canoeists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic canoeists of Canada