Adding one more gold medal to her whopping Paralympic and Olympic tally, Canadian Chantal Petitclerc made a perfect start to her fifth Games campaign Wednesday at the Bird's Nest.
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Chantal Petitclerc of Canada celebrates after winning the final of the women's 100m T54 classification event. [Agencies]
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The 38-year-old veteran hit the front in the final few meters of the women's 100m T54 to claim gold in a time of 16.15 sec and extend her career medal tally to 17.
"After the semifinals, I knew this would be very challenging. I knew they were faster than me and that added a little pressure, since I'm not used to chasing people," said the wheelchair racer who denied China's Liu Wenjun and Dong Hongjiao home spoils.
"I'm just really really happy that I didn't succumb to pressure when I saw they were ahead. It's really great. The time is so good."
Born in Quebec, Canada, in 1969, Petitclerc lost the use of both legs in an accident at the age of 13.
Her high school physical education teacher then convinced her to try swimming to develop strength and stamina.
It was Petitclerc's first contact with sports and training.
At 18, after being introduced to wheelchair sports, she finished her first race dead last in a homemade wheelchair, well behind the other backmarkers.
Despite the shaky start, she had fallen in love with the thrill of wheelchair racing and a long and fruitful career would ensue.
Petitclerc returned from her first Paralympic Games in Barcelona in 1992 with two bronze medals.
Her collection now includes 16 Paralympic medals and an Olympic gold medal.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, where wheelchair racing was an exhibition sport, she won the 800m race before capping that off with five gold at the Paralympics shortly after.
In Beijing, she's also hunting five gold medals in events ranging from 100m to 1,500m.
"I will be racing 10 times in seven days.
"This is a little Tour de France for me I have to manage everything - the rest, warm up and cool down quickly, and sleep.
"It' s very challenging. Not many girls do the five events on track. I know I have to take one event at a time."
Petitclerc expects this to be her final Paralympics and is not taking anything for granted.
"I don't want to put myself under more pressure. I want to really enjoy the Games and go one race at a time.
"I have to push hard 10 times and see how I go. I think one of the things I learn from these very close races is that even if you are with athletes you've never seen before in your life, you cannot take anything for granted.
"That's going to be my motto for the week."
