Jane Thornton

Jane Thornton
Personal information
Birth nameJane S. Thornton
Nationality Canada
Born (1978-07-09) 9 July 1978 (age 46)
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight68 kg (150 lb)[1]
Sport
CountryCanada
SportRowing
University teamUniversity of Western Ontario
ClubFredericton Rowing Club, Don Rowing Club of Mississauga, Western Rowing Club
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals4th Beijing 2008 Eights (W8+)
Medal record
Women's rowing
Representing  Canada
World Rowing Championships
Gold medal – first place 2006 Eton, UK Coxless Pairs (W2-)
Commonwealth Rowing Championships
Gold medal – first place 2002 Nottingham, UK Single Sculls (W1x)
Gold medal – first place 2002 Nottingham, UK Quadruple sculls (W4x)
World University Rowing Championships
Gold medal – first place 2002 Nottingham, UK Double Sculls (W2x)
Silver medal – second place 2002 Nottingham, UK Single Sculls (W1x)

Jane S. Thornton (born 9 July 1978) is a Canadian Clinician Scientist,[2] Olympic rower and international advocate for physical activity. She is the Canada Research Chair in Injury Prevention and Physical Activity for Health at the University of Western Ontario.[3] She was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick.[4]

She won a gold medal at the 2006 World Rowing Championships in the women's coxless pairs with Darcy Marquardt.[5] She finished in fourth place at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics in the women's eights with Ashley Brzozowicz, Darcy Marquardt, Buffy-Lynne Williams, Sarah Bonikowsky, Romina Stefancic, Andréanne Morin, Heather Mandoli and cox Lesley Thompson-Willie.[5]

Thornton earned a BSc, MSc and Ph.D. in Kinesiology and Sport Medicine from the University of Western Ontario before attending medical school at the University of Toronto, where she added an MD to her list of academic credentials. Following medical school, she undertook a year of medical residency abroad in Switzerland and gained valuable international experience to fuel her passion for the use of physical activity for prevention and treatment of chronic disease.

International rowing

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From 2001 to 2011, Thornton competed as a member of Canada's National Rowing Team.

One of her chief accomplishments during this time was an undefeated international season in the Women's Pair with partner Darcy Marquardt that culminated in victory at the 2006 World Rowing Championships at Eton-Dorney, UK. The duo qualified the Women's Pair for the Beijing 2008 Olympics the following year at the 2007 World Rowing Championships.

In the spring of 2008, Thornton was assigned to stroke the Women's Eight at the final Olympic qualification regatta where the crew secured a berth for the Games. That crew went on to come fourth in Beijing by the narrowest of margins (just 0.72 seconds separated 2nd place from 4th).

Other notable accomplishments representing Canada during this period include three Canadian National Championship titles in the Women's Pair, three World Cup podium performances in the Women's Pair and Eight, Commonwealth Rowing Championship wins in the Women's Single and Q­ruple Sculls and gold at the World University Rowing Championships in the Women's Single and Double Sculls.[1][6]

In 2006 Thornton and Marquardt were Canadian Sports Awards finalist in the "Partners of the Year" category.[7] Thornton was named Honorary Team Captain for Team New Brunswick at the 2009 Canada Summer Games.[8] In 2010, she was further honoured as a torchbearer in the Olympic Torch Relay during the lead up to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.[9]

Rowing Canada has recognised Thornton with three separate awards: the Rowing Canada Aviron Award of Merit (the highest award conferred by Rowing Canada) "in recognition of exceptional service to rowing as a competitive athlete"; the Rowing Canada Aviron Centennial Medal for outstanding contribution to Canadian rowing; and the Rowing Canada Aviron International Achievement Award.[10]

Social responsibility

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In 2015, Thornton was awarded the AthletesCAN Athlete Social Responsibility Award for her efforts to provide mentorship, inspiration and leadership to developing athletes within Canada's rowing community as well as her contributions to push forward the promotion and recognition of athlete social responsibility internationally.[11]

Thornton has additionally been involved as an Athlete Ambassador at Right to Play Canada, in which capacity she travelled to Uganda in 2009.[12]

International experience

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During the course of her education and athletic pursuits, Thornton sought out many international experiences to complement her research, including further medical training in six different countries.

She has developed educational resources and medical curricula in Switzerland, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, and Canada and lectures on the topic internationally.[13]

Selected publications

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Thornton has contributed to a number of publications in leading medical journals including the following:

  1. Thornton, Jane S; Frémont, Pierre; Khan, Karim; Poirier, Paul; Fowles, Jonathon; Wells, Greg D; Frankovich, Renata J (2016). "Physical activity prescription: a critical opportunity to address a modifiable risk factor for the prevention and management of chronic disease: a position statement by the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine: Table 1" (PDF). British Journal of Sports Medicine. 50 (18): 1109–1114. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096291. ISSN 0306-3674. PMID 27335208.
  2. Thornton, Jane S.; Vinther, Anders; Wilson, Fiona; Lebrun, Constance M.; Wilkinson, Mike; Di Ciacca, Stephen R.; Orlando, Karen; Smoljanovic, Tomislav (2016). "Rowing Injuries: An Updated Review". Sports Medicine. 47 (4): 641–661. doi:10.1007/s40279-016-0613-y. ISSN 0112-1642. PMID 27577685. S2CID 6595422.
  3. Gates, Ann B; Kerry, Roger; Moffatt, Fiona; Ritchie, Ian K; Meakins, Adam; Thornton, Jane S; Rosenbaum, Simon; Taylor, Alan (2017). "Movement for movement: exercise as everybody's business?". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 51 (10): 767–768. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096857. ISSN 0306-3674. PMID 27797742. S2CID 206882372.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Jane Thornton". worldrowing.com. International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  2. ^ "Jane Thornton, MD, PHD, CCFP (SEM), Dip. Sport Physician (IOC)". bios, Thornton, Jane. Western University. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Canada Research Chairs". 29 November 2012.
  4. ^ "Jane Thornton". Official Canadian Olympic Team Website | Team Canada | 2016 Olympic Games. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  5. ^ a b "(W2-) Women's Pair – Final". worldrowing.com. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  6. ^ "Canada Wins Big at the World University Rowing Championships". row2k.com. 25 August 2002. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  7. ^ Anonymous (22 January 2013). "The True Sport Foundation Announces Finalists For the 34th Annual Canadian Sport Awards". True Sport. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  8. ^ "Canada Games – Team NB Rally". gnb.ca. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  9. ^ The Canadian Olympic Committee (13 November 2009). "Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay Features Canadian Olympians". Official Canadian Olympic Team Website | Team Canada | 2016 Olympic Games. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  10. ^ Jelena Damjanovic (5 August 2014). "Alumna and world champion rower to volunteer at Pan Am and Parapan Am Games". University of Toronto News. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  11. ^ "Former National Team Rower, Jane Thornton, Receives 2015 AthletesCAN Social Responsibility Award". rowingcanada.org. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  12. ^ "Jane Thornton". sportanddev.org. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  13. ^ "Prescribing physical activity can go a long way in preventing chronic disease". Canadian Medical Association. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
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