The Sweeney Agency

About Chantal Petitclerc - Paralympic Champion and Sports Speaker:

After an impressive 5 gold medals in Athens 2004, Chantal Petitclerc has done it again! Back from the Beijing Paralympic Games with 5 gold medals, 2 new World records and 1 new Paralympic record, Chantal becomes the world's most decorated track athlete, with a total of 21 Paralympic medals, including 14 gold medals. As the only Canadian to medal at the Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games, Chantal is currently the World record holder for the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m.

A bilingual spokesperson for causes close to her heart, Chantal is a great inspiration as she shares her incredible, inspiring story of determination, perseverance and discipline. A paraplegic from the age of thirteen, Chantal has led the sport of wheelchair racing to new levels. The Olympic and Paralympic Games, the World Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the most prestigious marathons Chantal Petitclerc has participated in all of them, and always with distinction.

One of Chantal Petitclerc's big wins was history in the making. In July 2002 at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, she won the gold medal in the 800m in a time of 1 minute 52.92 seconds. It was the first wheelchair event to be fully integrated into the program of a major international competition. In winning an official gold medal, Chantal became the first athlete in the history of sports for the disabled to register a result for her country's team. She does it again in Melbourne two years later, where she has the great honer of being flagbearer for the opening ceremonies.

What Chantal Petitclerc Talks About:

Chantal Petitclerc captivates audiences as she tells of the circumstances that brought her to become a wheelchair track and field athlete, relating her major victories, as well as the disappointments she encountered along the way. Chantal embodies the qualities of determination, perseverance and discipline, and she teaches her audiences that we all have these qualities within us.

Her story begins when, at the age of thirteen, she lost the use of both legs in an accident. Gaston Jacques, a high school physical education teacher, was to have a decisive influence on her life when he convinced her to try swimming to develop her physical strength and stamina. It was Chantal's first contact with sports and training.

When Chantal was eighteen, Pierre Pomerleau, a trainer at University Laval in Quebec City, introduced her to wheelchair sports. Using a homemade wheelchair, she took part in her first race and came in dead last, well behind the other competitors. But never mind that - Chantal had fallen in love with wheelchair racing, and a long and fruitful career had begun!