IPC Finals Woolstencroft and Forest wins Crystal Globes in Downhill

Three Canadians win IPC World Cup Finals Downhill race in Whistler, BC

WHISTLER, BC  Lauren Woolstencroft (North Vancouver, BC) and Viviane Forest (Edmonton, AB) won the Crystal Globe as overall para-alpine downhill champions as racing got underway today at the IPC World Cup Finals in Whistler, BC. This is the first downhill Crystal Globe for both Woolstencroft and Forest, a visually impaired skier who is guided by Lindsay Debou (Whistler, BC).

 photos Alpine Canada

Woolstencroft also won the gold medal in the today’s IPC World Cup downhill in the ladies standing category, finishing in a time of one minute 21.70 seconds. This is Woolstencroft’s seventh gold medal on the IPC World Cup circuit so far this season.

“There is good competition in my category, overall there are good girls out there and they are pushing me everyday so that always keeps me on my toes,” said Woolstencroft. “The race was rougher and bumpier then yesterday, but it was faster and I felt good. Winning the downhill on the same run of the Paralympics next year is certainly a confidence booster for me, especially this event because all the details count.”

This is the second IPC World Cup victory of the season for Forest after winning her first gold medal in the super giant in La Molina, ESP earlier in January.

“I’m more then happy, I am not realizing it yet. It’s my first win in the downhill on the IPC World Cup circuit. Yesterday (in training) I was happily surprised to gain on the Slovakians and when I came back to my hotel room I though it was unfortunate that it wasn’t the race,” said Forest. “All night I told myself that I could do this again and that my result wasn’t just by chance. Lindsay and I did a lot of visualization and we knew what we had to do and we did it.”

In the ladies sitting category, Kimberly Joines (Rossland, BC) did not finish the downhill race in Whistler but finished second in the overall ranking for the IPC World Cup downhill.

In the ladies standing category Karolina Wisniewska (Calgary, AB/ Vancouver, BC), Arly Fogarty (Montreal, QC) and Andrea Dziewior (Nanaimo, BC) finished fifth, sixth and eighth respectively.

The IPC World Cup Finals continues tomorrow as the super combined and the super G will take place.

WHISTLER, BC– MARCH 11, 2009 - IPC WORLD CUP FINALS – M & L (OFFICIAL RESULTS, DOWHNILL)

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