1. Michelle Stilwell is a Canadian athlete and politician.
16 Facts About Michelle Stilwell
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Michelle Stilwell represented Canada at four Summer Paralympic Games, as well as the 2015 Parapan American Games.
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Michelle Stilwell competed in wheelchair basketball before becoming a wheelchair racer, and is the only female Paralympic athlete to win gold medals in two separate summer sport events.
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Michelle Stilwell is the youngest of four children, and worked at her parents' hotel in her youth.
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Michelle Stilwell eventually moved to Calgary, and completed her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology at the University of Calgary in 1999.
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Michelle Stilwell stayed in Calgary from 1997 until 2000 to train for the Canada women's national wheelchair basketball team, winning gold at the 1998 Women's Wheelchair Basketball World Championship.
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Michelle Stilwell then competed as a reserve for Team Canada at the 2000 Paralympic Games, where her team won the gold medal.
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However, Michelle Stilwell was forced to forgo wheelchair basketball after undergoing surgery for a herniated brain stem.
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At the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Michelle Stilwell defended her Paralympic gold medal in the women's 200m event in 33.80 seconds, shattering her Games record by over two seconds.
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Four days later, Michelle Stilwell captured a silver medal in the 100m event after mishap caused her to fall behind Marieke Vervoort.
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Michelle Stilwell took the gold medal in the women's T52 100m event at the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto.
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In 2016, her last Paralympic Games, Michelle Stilwell earned gold medals at the women's 100m and 400m events, setting a Paralympics record during the latter race with a time of one minute and 5.42 seconds.
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Michelle Stilwell was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2017, and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.
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Michelle Stilwell was named to the board of directors of the Canadian Paralympic Committee in 2022.
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Michelle Stilwell was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia at the May election, and was named government caucus chair and Parliamentary Secretary for Healthy Living in June 2013, before adding Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health for Seniors to her responsibilities in June 2014.
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Michelle Stilwell was re-elected in 2017 and retained her post in Premier Christy Clark's cabinet, until the Liberal minority government's defeat in a non-confidence motion.