Posted: July 24, 2005

Paralympics: Chantal Petitclerc up to four gold medals at Canadian Paralympic Athletics Championships

REGINA-Chantal Petitclerc of Montreal collected three more gold medals on Saturday at the Canadian Paralympic Athletics Championships while Jeff Adams of Toronto prevailed in two races.

Petitclerc, a quintuple gold medallist at the Paralympic Games in Athens last year, earned victories in the 200, 800 and 1,500 races in the T-54 category on Saturday. She started the competition with a win in the 100 sprint on Friday night.

"The big event was the 800 because it's the first trial for the Commonwealth Games," said Petiticlerc. "The track here isn't very fast but I pushed well and I'm really gaining a lot of confidence for the rest of the season. This is sort of the last opportunity to fine tune our racing for next month which will be very busy."

Other winners in women's competition Saturday included double Paralympic champion Lisa Franks of Saskatoon in the T-52 200 and 800, world champion Chelsea Clark of Mississauga, Ont., in the T-34 200, Kris Vriend of Edmonton in the T-36 shotput, Courtney Knight of Burnaby, B.C., in the T-13 shotput, Katie Wallace of Peterborough, Ont., in the T-35 shotput and Andrea Holmes of Vancouver in the T-44 long jump.

On the men's side, Adams won the coveted men's 200 wheelchair race in the T-54 category in 27.98 seconds just ahead of Colin Mathieson of Winnipeg. Both racers are tuning up to race the event at the IAAF World Athletics Championships on August 14.

In the T-54 1,500 Adams notched his third gold of the competition clocking 3:29.13 with Michel Filteau of St-Jean-Baptiste, Que., second in 3:31.90 and Curtis Thom of Mississauga, Ont., third in 3:33.82.

Other winners in men's competition included, William Stanley of Calgary in the T-13 200, Dean Bergeron of Quebec City in the T-52 200, Brent Lakatos of Dorval, Que., in the T-53 200 and 800, Stuart McGregor of Ottawa in the T-13 800, Blair Miller of Vancouver in the T-38 800, Andre Beaudoin of Montreal in the T-52 800, Thom in the T-54 800, Jason Dunkerley of Ottawa in the T-11 1,500, Clayton Gerein of Saskatoon in the T-52 1,500, and Kyle Petty of Ottawa in the T-35 shotput.

Jeff Adams opens Canadian Paralympic Athletics Championships with victory in the 5,000-metre wheelchair race

REGINA-Canadian wheelchair racing stars Jeff Adams of Toronto and Chantal Petitclerc of Montreal are off to a good start at the Canadian Paralympic Athletics Championships being held this weekend at the Canada Games Athletics Complex.

Adams, a five-time Paralympian, won the men’s 5,000-metre in the T-54 category clocking 12 minutes and 14.12 seconds under windy and cool conditions on Friday evening. Michel Filteau of St-Jean-Baptiste, Que., was second in 12:18.44.

Other winners in men’s events included France Gagné of Quebec City in the javelin as he approached his Paralympic Games bronze medal winning distance reaching 50.13 metres; Daniel Normandin of Montreal in the T-54 100 in 15.87 seconds and Brent Lakatos of Dorval, Que., in the T-53 100 in 16.20.

Petitclerc, a quintuple gold medallist at the Paralympics Games and off to a great start this season, led the women victors with gold in the T-54 100 in 18.11 facing a strong headwind. Chelsea Clark of Mississauga, Ont., a quadruple champion at the world championships for athletes with cerebral palsy earlier this month, won the T-34 100 and double Paralympic champion and world record holder Lisa Franks of Saskatoon took the T-52 100.

Competition continues through to Sunday. There are two sessions for Saturday with the first from 9 a.m. to noon (local time) then the second from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. On Sunday, events run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.