Canadian Olympian Emilie Mondor Dies in Tragic Car Crash By David Monti (c) 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved September 10, 2006
Canadian
Olympian Emilie Mondor perished in a car accident yesterday in Ontario,
a Canadian news radio station reported today. She was 25 years-old.
Mondor
represented Canada in the 2004 Olympic Games in the 5000m, her best
event. Her career best time of 14:59.68 was once the Canadian record.
In 2003 she ran for Canada in the IAAF World Championships in
Athletics fininishing 12th in the 5-K.
"She was a special girl," said her manager Ray Flynn today via telephone from the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart.
According
to CFRA News Talk Radio, Mondor was driving on Highway 417 in East
Hawkesbury, Ontario, yesterday afternoon at around 4:30 when her car
overturned. She was ejected from the car, and "sustained
life-threatening injuries," according to the report. She was taken to
Ottawa Civic Hospital and died later that evening.
Mondor,
originally from Mascouche, Quebec, and most recently living in Ottawa,
was in the midst of a comeback after missing much of 2005 and 2006,
diagnosed with a bone wasting condition. She ran her first race of
2006 in Toronto at the Sporting Life 10-K, finishing second in 32:27.
"I
do not care being 2nd here," Mondor said in a statement posted on her
website after the race. "It is a victory overall for me. My comeback
is unbelievable."
Although she was accomplished on the track,
Mondor had a natural talent for road running. In 2004 she ran 15:16 at
the Carlsbad 5000, a Canadian record, and 31:10 at the Vancouver Sun
Run 10-K. At the time of her death she was training for her marathon
debut at the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 5. She was coached by
Ken Parker at the time of her death. She started running at 14
years-old, winning her first Canadian title in 1997 when she became the
junior cross country champion.
In the last posting on her website, emiliemondor.com,
Mondor said she was excited to try the marathon. "I always had that
idea in my head," she wrote. "My agent Ray Flynn too. I live my dream
now."
