Olympic runner killed in car accident
EMILIE MONDOR: 1981-2006
Emilie Mondor was never more at home than when she was alone on a run, a ferocious athlete who thrived on the lonely life of a long-distance runner. The Olympic athlete from Mascouche, Que., was killed on the weekend in a car accident, cutting short a promising career. She was 25 years old.
Members of Canada’s track and field community were stunned and saddened by the news of her death and fondly recalled an athlete whose love of the sport was unparalleled. “That kind of passion is tough to describe, I haven’t seen that very much in my whole career,” said Martin Goulet, chief high performance officer for Athletics Canada, and a longtime distance coach. “She had that very passionate way about her, it was so deep in her we could feel that fire just being around her. Running was very special to her, to the point where it was almost a spiritual approach.”
Mondor was the first Canadian woman to dip under the 15-minute mark in the 5,000 metres, accomplishing the feat at the 2003 world championships in Paris where she finished 12th. She led the Canadian women’s team to a bronze medal at the world cross-country championships in 2004, and ran for Canada at the Athens Olympics later that year, finishing 17th in the 5,000. “She really, really loved to run, purely for running. There’s not a lot of athletes out there that absolutely love just the motion of running,” said three-time Olympic middle-distance runner Leah Pells.
Provincial police say Mondor was travelling alone on Highway 417 on Saturday when her vehicle overturned near Hawkesbury, Ont., about an hour east of Ottawa. Constable Pierre Dubois said Mondor was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the car. She was taken by air ambulance to Ottawa Civic Hospital where she died on Saturday evening of massive chest trauma.
Mondor’s career had been plagued by injuries the past couple of seasons, a bone condition similar to osteoporosis sidelining her with numerous stress fractures. But the 5-foot-6 runner recently decided to return to competition as a marathon runner, a perfect fit it would seem for an athlete who loved to log countless kilometres on the roads.
She announced the decision on her website, saying it had always been her goal to one day run a marathon. “I always had that idea in my head. I live my dream now,” she wrote. She moved to Ottawa to train for theathon and was to make her debut at the New York City Marathon on Nov. 5.
Mondor took up track when she was 14 and quickly made a name for herself on the national scene, winning gold at the Canadian junior cross-country championships in 1997. “I don’t know if the racing was the pleasure of her life, I think most it was just the running part of it she enjoyed,” said Mike Lonergan, who coached Mondor for four years when she lived in B.C.
She wore her love of her sport in the numerous tattoos that decorated her wiry body. Mondor is survived by two younger sisters and her parents, Nicole and Francois.
“I will never forget Emilie. Her passion for sport and deep respect of the Olympic movement inspired me deeply. Her fire within will live on forever in those who knew her. The world has lost a great talent in running and I have lost a beautiful friend.”
Clara
