Chantal Petitclerc, Canadian Paralympic icon, among 7 inducted into Hall of Fame

​Wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc was one of seven inductees into the Canadian Paralympic Hall of Fame on Friday night.

Montreal's Petitclerc was inducted in the athlete category along with wheelchair basketball player Marni Abbott-Peter of Vancouver and para-alpine skier Lauren Woolstencroft of Banff, Alta.

The late Wilf Strom of Winnipeg was inducted into the coach category while his wife Audrey Strom, Donald Royer of Sherbrooke, Que., and the late Gary McPherson of Edmonton were selected for the builder category.

Petitclerc competed at five Paralympic Games from 1992-2008 and earned 21 medals in wheelchair racing. In 2008 she won the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's athlete of the year and was named The Canadian Press' female athlete of the year.

Abbott-Peter led Canada's national women's wheelchair basketball team to three gold medals and a bronze in her four Paralympic Games appearances between 1992 and 2004.

Woolstencroft reached the top of the world in para-alpine skiing with eight gold, one silver, and one bronze medal won over three Paralympic Games from 2002 to 2010.

Wilf Strom developed the tapping system, in which swimmers with a visual impairment are tapped just before the wall, letting them know when to flip turn, a feature still used in the sport today.

Audrey Strom worked to ensure that innovative rule changes for blind swimmers were instilled in the International Blind Sport Association and later the International Paralympic Committee swimming rules.

For over 40 years, Royer has been an advocate of athletes with a disability in multiple sports as a coach, referee, researcher, team leader, judge, board member, and federation delegate.

McPherson had an extensive background in the Paralympic sport sector having spent more than 20 years in wheelchair sports administration including eight as president of the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association (CWSA).