Michelle Stilwell

Michelle Stilwell (nee Bauknecht; born July 4, 1974) is a Canadian athlete and politician. She represented Canada at four Summer Paralympic Games (2000, 2008, 2012 and 2016), as well as the 2015 Parapan American Games. She 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.[2]

Michelle Stilwell
PLY
Stilwell at the 2015 Parapan American Games
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Parksville-Qualicum
In office
May 14, 2013 – September 21, 2020
Preceded byRon Cantelon
Succeeded byAdam Walker
Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation of British Columbia
In office
February 2, 2015 – July 18, 2017
PremierChristy Clark
Preceded byDon McRae
Succeeded byShane Simpson (Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction)
Personal details
Born
Michelle Bauknecht

(1974-07-04) July 4, 1974
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Political partyLiberal
Spouse
Mark Stilwell
​
(m. 1997)​
Residence(s)Parksville, British Columbia[1]
Alma materUniversity of Calgary
Sports career
Height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Weight51 kg (112 lb)
Disability classT52
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Women's wheelchair basketball
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Team
Women's para athletics
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing 100m T52
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing 200m T52
Gold medal – first place 2012 London 200m T52
Silver medal – second place 2012 London 100m T52
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 100m T52
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 400m T52
Parapan American Games
Gold medal – first place2015 Toronto100m T52

As a politician, she represented the electoral district of Parksville-Qualicum in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2013 to 2020 as part of the British Columbia Liberal Party caucus, and served as Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation of British Columbia from 2015 to 2017.

Early life and education

Michelle Bauknecht was born on July 4, 1974, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.[1] She is the youngest of four children, and worked at her parents' hotel in her youth.[2] Weeks before graduating from River East Collegiate, she broke her neck from a fall at the age of 17 and became an incomplete quadriplegic, with limited hand and wrist functions.[2][3] After the accident, she competed in wheelchair basketball, through which she met her husband Mark Stilwell at the 1996 National Championships in Montreal.[4] Stilwell eventually moved to Calgary, and completed her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology at the University of Calgary in 1999.[1][2]

Athletic career

Stilwell stayed in Calgary from 1997 until 2000 to train for the Canada women's national wheelchair basketball team,[4] winning gold at the 1998 Women's Wheelchair Basketball World Championship.[2][5] She then competed as a reserve for Team Canada at the 2000 Paralympic Games, where her team won the gold medal.[6] Afterwards, Stilwell, her husband Mark, and their newborn son moved to Parksville, British Columbia in 2001.[7]

However, Stilwell was forced to forgo wheelchair basketball after undergoing surgery for a herniated brain stem.[8] Although unable to compete at the national level, Stilwell continued to play basketball locally where she was spotted by coach Peter Lawless, who convinced her to try for wheelchair racing.[7] At the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships, she won gold in the women's T52 200m event, and silver in the women's T52 100m event.[1][2][9]

Stilwell qualified for the 2008 Paralympic Games where she won two gold medals in the women's T52 200m and 100m events.[10] At the 2011 World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand, she won the gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 400m events, as well as the silver medal in the 800m event;[1][2][9] she set the World Championship records in the 100m and 200m races.[11]

Stilwell at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships

At the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Stilwell defended her Paralympic gold medal in the women's 200m event in 33.80 seconds, shattering her Games record by over two seconds.[12] Four days later, Stilwell captured a silver medal in the 100m event after mishap caused her to fall behind Marieke Vervoort.[13] The following year, she competed in the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships and won gold at the 100m, 200m and 800m events, setting a new world record in the women's T52 800m race.[14] She took the gold medal in the women's T52 100m event at the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto.[1][2]

In 2016, her last Paralympic Games, 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.[15] The following year, Stilwell announced her retirement from competitive sports.[16] She was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2017,[5][17] and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.[18]

She was named to the board of directors of the Canadian Paralympic Committee in 2022.[19]

Political career

With incumbent BC Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly for Parksville-Qualicum Ron Cantelon declining to seek re-election, Stilwell was acclaimed as the party's candidate for the riding in the 2013 provincial election.[20][21] She 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,[22] before adding Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health for Seniors to her responsibilities in June 2014.[23] Following Don McRae's resignation from cabinet, Stilwell was sworn in as Minister for Social Development and Social Innovation in February 2015.[24]

Stilwell was re-elected in 2017 and retained her post in Premier Christy Clark's cabinet,[25] until the Liberal minority government's defeat in a non-confidence motion. After the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) formed government in July 2017, Stilwell served on the Official Opposition bench as critic for Tourism, Arts and Culture for the remainder of the 41st Parliament.[26]

After losing her seat in the 2020 election to BC NDP candidate Adam Walker,[27] Stilwell joined CVM Medical as director of COVID-19 rapid testing in 2021.[28]

Electoral record
2020 British Columbia general election: Parksville-Qualicum
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticAdam Walker13,20742.00+13.34$6,991.73
LiberalMichelle Stilwell11,15535.47−9.66$45,718.10
GreenRob Lyon5,22716.62−8.82$2,772.94
ConservativeDon Purdey1,4044.46–$1,413.44
IndependentJohn St John4541.44–$0.00
Total valid votes 31,447100.00–
Total rejected ballots   
Turnout   
Registered voters
Source: Elections BC[29][30]
2017 British Columbia general election: Parksville-Qualicum
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMichelle Stilwell13,60445.13−5.00$53,948
New DemocraticSue Powell9,18928.66−8.40$44,326
GreenGlenn Sollitt8,15725.44–$10,490
RefederationTerry Hand2450.77–$0
Total valid votes 32,059100.00–
Total rejected ballots 1590.49−0.15
Turnout 32,21870.21+2.27
Registered voters 45,891
Source: Elections BC[31][32]
2013 British Columbia general election: Parksville-Qualicum
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalMichelle Stilwell1451850.13
New DemocraticBarry Avis1073237.06
ConservativeDavid Bernard Coupland371012.81
Total valid votes 28960100.00
Total rejected ballots 1860.64
Turnout 2914667.94
Source: Elections BC[33]

References
  1. "Michelle Stilwell". paralympic.ca. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  2. Freeborn, Jeremy (July 19, 2022). "Michelle Stilwell". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  3. "Meet the 5 Paralympic athletes with ties to Manitoba". cbc.ca. September 5, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  4. Prest, Ashley (September 30, 2008). "A Gift More Precious Than Gold". Winnipeg Free Press. Manitoba.icon of an open green padlock
  5. Beck, Jason. "Michelle Stilwell". BC Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  6. Vancouver Sun (May 31, 2008). "Lonely at the Top". Canada.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  7. "Canadian Paralympian Michelle Stilwell's toughest competition is herself". National Post. August 28, 2012. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  8. "Winnipeg-born athlete continues to overcome adversity". themanitoban.com. March 3, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  9. "Michelle Stilwell". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  10. "Canadian track star Stilwell takes 2nd Paralympic gold". cbc.ca. September 15, 2008. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  11. Clarke, James (February 10, 2011). "Mikey returns with a handful of gold, silver". Parksville Qualicum Beach News. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  12. "Canada's Michelle Stilwell defends Paralympic title in T52 200-metre final". National Post. September 1, 2012. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  13. Kingston, Gary (September 5, 2012). "Canada's Michelle Stilwell sees silver lining in Paralympic wheelchair race result". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  14. Kingston, Gary (July 25, 2013). "MLA Michelle Stilwell sets world wheelchair record". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  15. Dheensaw, Cleve (September 10, 2016). "Michelle Stilwell wins 5th gold: 'It was the moment I was working for'". Times Colonist. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  16. "Michelle Stilwell announces retirement". athletics.ca. February 8, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  17. "Former Wheelchair Basketball Athlete Michelle Stilwell and Coach Tim Frick To Be Inducted into B.C. Sports Hall of Fame". wheelchairbasketball.ca. December 13, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  18. "Michelle (Bauknecht) Stilwell". Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame - Honoured members database. Sport Manitoba. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  19. "Parksville athlete Stilwell joins Canadian Paralympic Committee board of directors". Parksville Qualicum Beach News. June 10, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  20. Rardon, J.R. (January 10, 2013). "Stilwell candidacy official". Parksville Qualicum Beach News. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  21. Mason, Gary (April 23, 2013). "Paralympic champ turned B.C. politician faces her toughest race yet". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  22. Rardon, J.R. (June 13, 2013). "Michelle Stilwell named BC Liberal Caucus Chair". Parksville Qualicum Beach News. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  23. "New Parliamentary Secretary for Seniors" (Press release). British Columbia Ministry of Health. June 16, 2014. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  24. Shaw, Rob (January 30, 2015). "Rookie MLA tapped for cabinet as social development minister resigns". Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on February 1, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  25. "B.C. Premier Christy Clark and cabinet sworn in". CBC News. June 12, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  26. "41st Parliament Members at dissolution on September 21, 2020: Michelle Stilwell". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  27. Briones, Michael (November 7, 2020). "NDP's Adam Walker will be Parksville-Qualicum's new MLA". Parksville Qualicum Beach News. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  28. Briones, Michael (March 12, 2021). "COVID-19: Former Parksville-Qualicum MLA Stilwell takes on new job with rapid testing company". Parksville Qualicum Beach News. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  29. "2020 Provincial General Election Final Voting Results". electionsbcenr.blob.core.windows.net. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  30. "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  31. "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  32. "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  33. "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
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