PARKSVILLE - Michelle Stilwell was not able to repeat her performance on the track in Beijing in 2008, but she did put in a great performance in Wednesday's T52 100m wheelchair race in London, placing second.
Stilwell, who won a gold medal and set a new world record in the 200m race on Saturday, was the reigning Paralympic champ at both that race, and in the 100m.
Belgium's Marieke Vervoort won the gold in a time of 19.69 seconds, a new Paralympic record. Stilwell still holds the world record time of 18.67. She set a Paralympic record of 33.80 in the T52 200m (where she narrowly defeated Vervoort), hold the world record there at 33.58, and has the world record in the 400m at 1:05.41. The United States' Kerry Morgan was third in the T52 100m at 20.68.
Another Parksville athlete, Trevor Hirschfield, aka T-Bone, is part of the Canadian wheelchair rugby team. They lost their opener Wednesday to Australia, 45-37. Canada plays Belgium tomorrow and Sweden on Friday, Sept. 7 to round out their pool play.