Former track star Emilie Mondor remembered

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Contact:

Brit Townsend, 604.291.3382, brit_townsend@sfu.ca
Scott Maclean, athletics, 604.291.4057
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 604.291. 4323

Former Simon Fraser University track and field star and Olympian Emilie Mondor was killed in a car accident east of Ottawa on Sept. 9. The 25-year-old former NAIA champion was on her way to attend a high school reunion in Mascouche, Quebec.

The spirited distance runner left the Clan in 2003 as a two-time NAIA (National Association of Interncollegiate Athletes) champion and as the reigning 1,500 metre champion. She went on to compete for Canada in the 5000 metre race at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Later that year, Mondor was diagnosed with osteoporosis.

Demonstrating the character and spirit that defined her career, Mondor battled her way back. The day before the accident, Mondor ran a 29-km training session in preparation for a new physical discipline, the marathon. She was looking forward to making her debut at a marathon in New York later this year.

“Emilie was an incredibly passionate, determined young woman,” says Brit Townsend, SFU’s track and field coach. “ Everything she pursued she did with great determination. It was at the core of her being, to be the best that she could possibly be in her running. She gave a lot to SFU obviously with her championship titles but also with her leadership and being such an incredible role model to the younger athletes on her team.”

Mondor was not only an NAIA cross country champion but had success in both outdoor and indoor track and field. She was named the co-outstanding performer at the 2002 NAIA national outdoor track and field championships after winning the 1500m and 4x800m titles.

“She was something else, and became a good friend of ours, calling (our family) and visiting our house when she was in town, she was always very supportive of my children,” says Townsend. “She gave a lot of her training gear to young athletes on the team and people with whom she was training, and was always so generous with her spirit. She just loved to support people and loved to help others. You don’t meet very many people like her. I completely respected everything about her.”

A funeral service is expected to be held in Mondor’s hometown later this week.