CALGARY, AB (March 9th , 2010) – Lauren Woolstencroft (North Vancouver, BC), multiple Paralympic Winter Games medalist, leads a list of ski racers intently focused on contributing to Canada’s medal totals during the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA) announced today.
Woolstencroft has an impressive five career Paralympic medals including three gold. Her last gold medal came in giant slalom at the 2006 Games in Turin, ITA.
Kimberly Joines (Rossland, BC), a 2006 bronze medalist in the super-G, was also named to the Canadian team today along with Jeff Dickson, a three-time Paralympic medalist dating all the way back to 1992. Karolina Wisniewska (Vancouver, BC) came out of retirement in 2007 to compete in the 2010 Paralympic Games. Wisniewska, who has six career Paralympic medals, became the first Canadian alpine skiing athlete in either Paralympic or Olympic Winter Games competition to win four medals when she accomplished the feat at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002.
“I’m really excited. I worked really hard to get here. These will be my third Paralympic Games, I didn’t race in Torino but I decided to come back for 2010. So I’m really excited that I made it this far and things are going pretty well. I feel like I am exactly where I have to be right now,” said Wisniewska. “Having the Games on home soil will definitely make it different, but I think it will be a good different and I am ready to embrace it as much as possible.”
There are a total of seven skiers with Paralympic Winter Games experience. Of the nine racers who will be at their first Paralympic Winter Games, Viviane Forest (Edmonton, AB) along with her guide Lindsay Debou (Whistler, BC) is an overall IPC World Cup champion in 2009 and 2010. The list of first-time Paralympians also includes 2009 IPC World downhill champion Josh Dueck (Vernon, BC) while seventeen-year-old Kirk Shornstein (Edmonton, AB), a member of the national development team, is the youngest team member.
“Canada’s Para-alpine ski racers are at the end of the most successful Paralympic cycle in their history and were atop the Nation’s Cup standings for the first time ever last season,” said CPAST, High Performance Director Jean-François Rapatel.
“Our goal all along has been to create a para-alpine program that is capable of sustaining success in the long-tern and the 2010 Paralympics have always been considered as a major opportunity to measure our progress,” added Rapatel. “We have a well prepared team, a talented group of Canadian and international coaches and staff, as well as athletes who have a track record of success in World Cup and World Championship competition.”
In the history of the Paralympic Games the Alpine events won a total of 36 medals. Of those medals, five athletes that are currently on the team are already Paralympic Games medalist, which adds up to a total of 18 medals.
It is expected that Canada will have representation in each alpine event during the Paralympic Winter Games in 2010.
The downhill training runs start Wednesday March 10th and the first race will be on Saturday March 13th with the downhill event.
List of 16 alpine athletes nominated to the Canadian Paralympic Committee;
LADIES - RESIDENCE (CATEGORIE) / DAMES – RÉSIDENCES (CATÉGORIE)
Andrea Dziewior, Nanaimo BC, LW 2
Arly Fogarty, Montreal QC, LW 5/7-2
Karolina Wisniewska, Vancouver BC, LW 3/2
Kimberly Joines Rossland, BC, LW 11
Lauren Woolstencroft, North Vancouver BC, LW 3/1
Lindsay Debou, Whistler, BC, Guide
Melanie Schwartz, Toronto, ON, LW 2
Viviane Forest, Edmonton AB, B 2
ABOUT ALPINE CANADA ALPIN
Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA) is the governing body for alpine ski racing in Canada with more than 50,000 athletes, coaches, officials and volunteer members and over 200,000 supporting members. ACA manages the high performance programs for the athletes of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team and the Canadian Para-Alpine Ski Team who represent Canada throughout the world. For more information on Alpine Canada Alpin, visit www.canski.org.
