Priscilla Lopes-Schliep

Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (born 26 August 1982) is a Canadian retired hurdler in track and field athletic competition. She was born in Scarborough, Ontario, and currently lives in Whitby.

Priscilla Lopes-Schliep

Lopes-Schliep at the 2012 Bislett Games
Personal information
Birth name	Priscilla Lopes
Nationality	Canada
Born	(1982-08-26) 26 August 1982 (age 42) Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Home town	Whitby, Ontario, Canada
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight	67 kg (148 lb)
Spouse	Bronsen Schliep ​ (m. 2007)​
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Canada Summer Olympic Games 2008 Beijing 100 m hurdles World Championships 2009 Berlin 100 m hurdles World Indoor Championships 2010 Doha 60 m hurdles

Personal

Priscilla Lopes-Schliep during 2010 Memorial Van Damme

Born in Scarborough, Ontario, Lopes-Schliep's heritage is Guyanese and Portuguese.^[1] She is the first cousin of soccer player Dwayne De Rosario.^[2]

Lopes-Schliep attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She married former University of Nebraska basketball player Bronsen Schliep in the fall of 2007. They currently reside in Toronto, where he practices dentistry.

Career

In 2004 Priscilla became the 2004 NCAA Indoor Champion in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 7.82 as her personal best.^[3] Lopes-Schliep won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in women's 100 m hurdles.^[4] It was the first medal for Canada in Athletics at the Summer Olympics since the 1996 Games^[5] and the first medal for a Canadian woman in Olympic track and field since the 1992 Games.^[6]

At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, Lopes-Schliep won a silver medal in the 100 m hurdles in Berlin, Germany, in a time of 12.54s.^[7][8] She failed to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, having finished 7th in the 100m hurdles at the 2012 Canadian Olympic trials for track and field after she struck a hurdle and fell.^[9]

Genetics

Lopes-Schliep has the LMNA R482W gene mutation, and was diagnosed with Dunnigan-type Lipodystrophy. The diagnosis came from DIY research conducted by Jill Viles, an Iowa mother without any medical training but who had Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy and who spotted physical similarities between herself and Lopes-Schliep, and encouraged her to undergo genetic testing. The results confirmed Dunnigan-type Lipodystrophy, and alerted Lopes-Schliep to a potential pancreatitis attack due to the high levels of fat in her blood, though this was avoided by modifying her diet.^[10][11]

Personal bests

Event	Time (sec)	Venue	Date
50 metres hurdles	6.82	Stockholm, Sweden	21 February 2008
55 metres hurdles	7.51	Fresno, California, United States	21 January 2008
60 metres hurdles	7.82	Stuttgart, Germany	6 February 2010
100 metres hurdles	12.49	Brussels, Belgium	4 September 2009
60 metres	7.23	Lincoln, Nebraska, United States	26 February 2005
100 metres	11.44	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada	19 July 2003
200 metres (indoor)	23.50	Lincoln, Nebraska, United States	25 February 2006

• All information taken from IAAF profile.