Wendy Clarkson

Wendy May Carter Clarkson (née Wendy Carter; born March 11, 1956, Glasgow, Scotland) is a Canadian badminton champion who was ranked third in the world in 1978 and also medalled or ranked at Canadian Open, national, Commonwealth Games and Pan Am Games.

Clarkson won her first single Canadian title in the women's singles in 1976, having been a junior champion the year before. That year, she also won the Canadian Open. In 1977, she competed in the quarter-finals of All England.

As a high school athlete in Bowmanville, Ontario, she was recognized for her prowess in swimming, badminton and basketball as Athlete of the Year. In the 1970s, she took up badminton. She won the 1975 Canadian junior badminton singles title. With Tracey Vanwassenhove, she won the junior girls' doubles competition. With Cam Dalgleish, she won the mixed doubles.

In 1976, she won the Canadian Ladies' Singles title. The next year, she won the Badminton Pan Am Championship.

During the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta, she won silver in the team competition and bronze in the ladies' singles. That year, she was ranked as 3rd-best female badminton player in the world.

In 1979, and 1980, she won top ladies' singles at the nationals and, with Claire Backhouse, she won top Doubles and, with Greg Carter, top mixed doubles.

In 1981, she won gold in Ladies' Doubles with Sandra Skillings. In 1982, she earned top Doubles with Bob MacDougal and top ladies doubles with Sandra Skillings.

She earned a Bachelor of Education from the University of Calgary in 1989.[1] In 2001, she was inducted into the University of Alberta's Sports Hall of Fame.[2] Today she is a coach in Seattle, Washington.[3]