Photo by Photo Submitted
GOLDEN GIRL – Yukoner Jessica Frotten won two golds and a silver medal at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Moncton June 27 to 29. Photo courtesy MARC GRANDMAISON/ATHLETICS CANADA
Photo by Photo Submitted
GOLDEN GIRL – Yukoner Jessica Frotten won two golds and a silver medal at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Moncton June 27 to 29. Photo courtesy MARC GRANDMAISON/ATHLETICS CANADA
Yukon wheelchair racer Jessica Frotten is revelling in her latest accomplishment – Canadian champion.
Yukon wheelchair racer Jessica Frotten is revelling in her latest accomplishment – Canadian champion.
The 26-year-old won two gold medals at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Moncton in late June, and added a silver for good measure.
Frotten earned her very first national gold medal Saturday, June 8, by winning the 200-metre race with a time of 35.51 seconds.
She followed that up with her second gold-medal win Sunday in the 800-m, crossing the line in 2:21.33.
Frotten would also claim a silver in the 400-m race, finishing in 1:08.76. Meanwhile, in the 100-m race, she finished fourth with a time of 20.32.
“It’s only the beginning,” Frotten told the Star yesterday. “There’s still a lot more to come I think.
“It was really awesome to be out there at that level, racing against some actual competition in my class.”
Frotten lined up against Quebec racer Sarah White in each of her events, and was happy to finally turn the tables on her Canada Summer Games rival.
“She won everything at the Canada Games,” Frotten recalled. “She cleaned up. It is nice to see my times were way better than hers. All my hard work is paying off.
“I’ve really been working my butt off at it, and I think if you put a lot of work into it, you’re going to see results.”
The gold medals were a result of plenty of training, yet earning the top position in Canada remains a surreal feeling, said Frotten.
“There’s people who have been doing this their whole lives, and I’m kind of the rookie. Maybe I was just meant to do it.”
Frotten burst onto the wheelchair racing scene last May, winning five gold medals at a track meet in Victoria.
That event marked her first major competition following a 2009 car crash that saw her paralyzed from the waist down.
Frotten competes in the T53 category, which includes wheelchair athletes with normal use of their arms and hands, but little to no trunk function and no leg function.
Prior to the national championships, Frotten spent time racing in Arizona and Switzerland.
She continues to look ahead to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“I’m really going to try (to qualify),” she said. “There’s some big competitions coming up this next year. There’s the Pan Am Games, and then there’s also worlds. Those will be some big competitions.
“I think that my performance this season will get me developmentally carded, so I’m almost on Team Canada.”
Getting carded and raising funds are two hurdles Frotten will need to get over before her Olympic dream has a chance to become reality.
But that’s in the future, and for now, Frotten is happy to soak up the moment. She continues to receive plenty of congratulatory notes from her vast fan base in Whitehorse.
“It’s incredible,” she said of the support. “It’s really hard to fall when you have so many backing you. I don’t think anyone else in the racing community has that. We have such an amazing community here. It’s pretty special.”
She will spend the next month in Whitehorse relaxing, before returning to her training in Regina, where she also works at the First Steps Wellness Centre, promoting health as a community wellness advocate.
“To work and train and travel, it’s a lot,” Frotten said. “But I love it and I wouldn’t change anything.”
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