Jan 8th, 2009 - Canada's athlete of the year

ok....time to catch up/reflect...

first of all:

Chantal Petitclerc named Lou Marsh Trophy winner

CATHAL KELLY
Sports Reporter
Two months after blazing through Beijing, wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc is still stuck in an Olympic fog.

“It’s been so crazy since I got home,” she said. “My life has changed. I can’t go out and have a normal day. I feel I’m still on this adrenaline rush. I know at some point it will wear off and I’ll be able to take a step back.”

Maybe. But probably not now.

Petitclerc capped a year of outsized achievment today by winning the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s top athlete. Named for a former Toronto Star sports editor, the award is voted on by sports journalists from across the country. Petitclerc is the award’s 71st recipient since 1936.

Speaking from her home in Montreal, Petitclerc, who turns 39 next week, seemed alight with glee after her win.

“It makes the magic of Beijing live a little longer for me,” she said of the award. “It’s a great recognition for Paralympic sport … it gives us great respect.”

In what was seen as an open field, Petitclerc beat out several high-profile pro athletes (basketball’s Steve Nash, baseball’s Justin Morneau) and several Olympic colleagues (equestrian rider Eric Lamaze, triathlete Simon Whitfield and figure skater Jeffrey Buttle).

She did it by entirely dominating her sport. In Beijing, Petitclerc won five gold medals. She set three world records, two of them coming in races held only 90 minutes apart. Her wins in the T54 category of spinal injury ranged from the 100-metre sprint to the 1,500-metre test of wills. She retired from track racing after the games, bringing her consecutive gold medal streak to an end at 10.