November 6, 2007

Racing her way to top
Paralympian Stilwell nominated for top overall athlete by Athletics Canada
Krista Charke , Daily News

Michelle Stilwell might feel like she's one athlete among thousands, but Athletics Canada knows she's one in a million.

The Nanoose Bay wheelchair racer has been nominated for three 2007 Athletics Canada Awards for overall athlete of the year, best track athlete of the year and top para-athlete in wheelchair events.

Stilwell, who found out about her nominations through a mass email from Athletics Canada last Monday, was in shock when she saw her name on the list and was thrilled to be nominated in the same categories as able-bodied athletes.

"It's great because it brings more recognition to Paralympic athletes," said the PacificSport athlete, who is hoping to qualify for the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing. "It's exciting that a Paralympic athlete can compete for the same trophy as an able-bodied athlete, especially overall athlete of the year . . . that's pretty amazing."

While Paralympians still struggle for the kind of recognition received by their Olympian cohorts, Stilwell says these nominations help narrow the divide. Paralympians are just as dedicated and train just as hard as Olympians, but Stilwell says she is still faced a challenge to dispel the stereotype that athletes with a disability are somehow less competitive.

"(Paralympians) do everything Olympians do. We train the same, eat the same, compete the same and deal with all the same kinds of stuff like mental training, nutrition, injuries and balancing family life. So it's great to know we're starting to be recognized as being at the same (calibre) as them . . . because we are."

Also, as an athlete who pretty much feels like she flies under the radar, being in the running with the likes of Victoria long-distance runner Gary Reed and hurdler Perdita Felicien of Pickering, Ont. makes the whole experience much more rewarding.

"(Perdita) is a household name," said Stilwell. "So it does give me a sense of accomplishment to have my name next to hers."

After two weeks off following her gold medal sweep in the T52 100, 200, 400 and 800-metre events at the 2007 IWAS World Wheelchair and Amputee Games in Taiwan in September, Stilwell has returned to her gruelling training schedule with the hopes of qualifying for her second Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008.

But this paralympic journey has been a lot lonelier than the one she was on when she went to the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney with the Canadian women's national basketball team.

Switching from a team sport to going solo on the track has been difficult because she no longer has a support network or training partners to rely on. But her own personal cheerleaders give her strength.

"It would be a lot harder without the support of my husband," Stilwell said, while keeping an eye on her six-year-old son Kai at soccer practice in Parksville. "I have to travel a lot for training and competitions, but he just always says it's part of my job and that we'll make it work."

Stilwell leaves for a 10-day training camp at the University of California at Fullerton on Wednesday and then in January she's off to Sydney, where she'll try and make the first round of times to put her one spin closer to qualify for the 100 and 200-metre events in Beijing.

So there's no stopping the 33-year-old competitor who sees a life ahead of accomplishing one dream at a time with a few unexpected delights thrown in along the way.

The Athletics Canada Award winners will be announced on Nov. 24.