Claire Backhouse-Sharpe ( Backhouse; born May 13, 1958) is a Canadian badminton player and coach. Between 1978 and 1994, she competed in five editions of the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, winning a single gold medal and five silver medals. Backhouse-Sharpe also participated in the

World Badminton Championships The BWF World Championships is a badminton tournament organized by the Badminton World Federation. It's the most prestigious badminton competition, offering the most ranking points, along with the Summer Olympics badminton events introduced in ...

and Uber Cup on five occasions each as part of the

Canada national badminton team The Canada national badminton team () represents Canada in international badminton team competitions. It is controlled by the nation's governing body of badminton, Badminton Canada. The team's best result was achieving two semifinal finishes in ...

. She won multiple national and regional titles and was assistant coach and manager of the British Columbia Badminton team at the 1994

Canada Winter Games Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the 1995 Western Canada Games. Backhouse-Sharpe was inducted into the

BC Sports Hall of Fame The BC Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in the BC Place stadium, at Gate A, the main entrance to the stadium, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It collects, preserves, studies and interprets materials that relate to British Columbia' ...

in 1997 and the Badminton Canada Hall of Fame.

Personal background

On May 13, 1958, Backhouse-Sharpe was born in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada, and her hometown was listed as

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard In ...

. She is the grand daughter of a

squash Squash most often refers to: * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (plant), the fruit of vines of the genus ''Cucurbita'' Squash may also refer to: Sports * Squash (professional wrestling), an extr ...

player who won the British Open Squash Championship, and a tennis player who played at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

. Backhouse-Sharpe attended the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

as an arts student. In mid-1985, she married vice-president of the British Columbia Badminton Association Doug Sharp. They have three children. Backhouse-Sharpe trained while pregnant with her third child, and frequently took her children to worldwide badminton events. She also worked in the federal government clerical department full-time outside of

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

Career

Backhouse-Sharpe began playing badminton at age 12 combining her other interests in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, squash,

street hockey Street hockey (also known as shinny, dek hockey, ball hockey, road hockey or street roller hockey) is a collection of team sport variants played outdoors either on foot or with wheeled skates (either quad or in-line), using either a ball or puck ...

and tennis. At 17, she decided to specialize in badminton. She began playing for the

in either 1976 or 1977, and was listed at and . As a rookie and an unseeded entrant, Backhouse-Sharpe reached the semi-finals of the women's doubles at the

1978 All England Open Badminton Championships The 1978 All England Championships was a badminton tournament held at Wembley Arena, London, England, from 15–18 March 1978. The event was sponsored by John Player. Final results Men's singles Seeds 1-2 Rudy Hartono 1-2 Svend Pri 3-4 ...

with her partner

Jane Youngberg Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name including list of persons and characters with the name * Jane (surname), related to the given name including list of persons and characters with the name Film and television * ''Jan ...

, defeating the Dutch and English sides in the preceding rounds before losing to the Japanese squad. She went on to claim silver medals in both the women's doubles with Youngberg and the mixed team event with five other Canadian players at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

. Backhouse-Sharpe went on to win two gold medals in the doubles and mixed doubles at the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games, officially the VIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as San Juan 1979, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization (PASO), and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to Jul ...

. She got affected by

tendinitis Tendinopathy is a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder ( rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow ( tenn ...

in both her knees in late 1979, and underwent surgery in July 1980. Backhouse-Sharpe was one of ten badminton players to be selected by the Canadian Badminton Association to compete at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

in Brisbane. There, she and

Johanne Falardeau Johanne Falardeau (born 1961) is a Canadian retired badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the m ...

won the gold medal by defeating the No. 1 seeded English team in the final in the women's doubles and the silver medal with five other Canadians in the team competition. At the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. This was the second Commonwealth Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largely African, Asian and Caribbe ...

in Edinburgh, Backhouse-Sharpe won the silver medal for the mixed team competition in a side of six as well as competing in three other events without winning any medals.

She was one of two representatives of Canada to be invited by the

International Badminton Federation The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federat ...

to enter the exhibition badminton tournament at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

in Seoul. At the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games () were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Participants competed in ten sports: at ...

in Auckland, Backhouse-Sharpe was part of the six-player silver medal winning squad of the mixed team competition. She participated in two events at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

in Victoria but did not medal in either of them. As a member of the Canada national badminton squad, she participated in the

five times in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

and

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and the

Uber Cup The Uber Cup, sometimes called the World Women's Team Championships, is a major international badminton competition contested by women's national badminton teams. First held in 1956–1957 and contested at three year intervals, it has been contes ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

and

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. She took the

U.S. Open Badminton Championships The U.S. Open Badminton Championships is an annual badminton tournament first held in 1954. During the 1950s and 1960s it often attracted the world's top players. The 2015 Yonex Suffolk County Community College US Open Championships, held in Bren ...

on eight occasions and the Canadian Open twice as well as winning fifteen Canadian national championships (two Junior, three Intermediate and ten Senior) and several Canadian National Grand Prix accolades and provincial titles. Backhouse-Sharpe was named the recipient of the Yonex Outstanding Canadian Player Award at both the 1982 Canadian Open and the 1984 German Open and was named the 1994 Badminton Canada Player of the Year. Post-retirement, she was assistant coach and manager of the British Columbia Badminton squad at the 1994

and the 1995 Western Canada Games. Backhouse-Sharpe was influential in altering

Sport Canada Sport Canada is a branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage that develops federal sport policy in Canada, provides funding programs in support of sport, and administers special projects related to sport. Its mission "to enhance opportunitie ...

's Athlete Assistance Program policy in relation to parenthood, pregnancy and woman athletes. In May 1997, she was inducted into the

in a ceremony at the

Hotel Vancouver The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, formerly and still informally called the Hotel Vancouver, is a historic hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia. Located along West Georgia Street the hotel is situated within the city's Financial District, in Downto ...

. Backhouse-Sharpe was elected to the board of directors of Badminton Canada on a one-year term starting in July 2018. She is a inductee of the Badminton Canada Hall of Fame for her playing career.

Playing style

She played left-handed and had a strong smash that was improved upon when she commenced weight training. Backhouse-Sharpe trained six days a week and twice each day when possible; her training included aerobics classes, running and practice with fellow player Sandra Skillings.

References

External links