WOOLSTENCROFT BECOMES FIRST FEMALE TO WIN FIVE GOLD AT A WINTER PARALYMPICS

March 20, 2010 (Whistler, BC) – Lauren Woolstencroft (North Vancouver) has become the most decorated female athlete in a single Winter Paralympic Games. She won the super combined by more than 12 seconds on Saturday to close out her para-alpine competition having won every event she raced.
"I am a competitor, I always want to race my best and it was a bit of a tricky course so I had to be super focused. At the same time I knew I had to get down so I needed to ski a smart run. Obviously super happy and surprised with the outcome," said Woolstencroft.

"I never though I would actually win the five medals. The biggest challenge here was to ski your best day after day. I am mentally fried right now, today my only focus was the race and I am pretty mentally tired. I had great confidence coming in and I was super prepared. I knew I had the potential but you can never know what is going to happen," added Woolstencroft. "I don't know if all of this has set in yet, I am just kind of surprised still."

In the 34-year history of the Winter Paralympics, there have been seven women to win four gold in a single Games, the last being Ragnhild Myklebust (Norway) in cross country and Sarah Hill (USA) in alpine during the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.
“Lauren has established herself as the golden athlete of these Games,” said Blair McIntosh, chef de mission, Team Canada. “She is in a class of her own at the Winter Games and I join the nation in congratulating her on this remarkable display of word-class athleticism.”
Woolstencroft also ties swimmer Stephanie Dixon and athletics star Chantal Petitclerc as the only three Canadian women to earn five gold medals in a single Paralympics, winter or summer.
    The 28-year-old has Canadian company in the five medals category at these Games. Vivian Forest (Edmonton) and guide Lindsay Debou collected a silver today in the super combined, visually impaired, to complete her mission of winning a medal in a five events entered.
    Competition ends Sunday with para-nordic events and the closing ceremonies are scheduled for 19:00 PT.

2010 PARALYMPIC WINTER GAMES MEDAL COUNT FOR LAUREN WOOLSTENCROFT

Sport    Event    Medal
Alpine Skiing    Downhill, Standing    Gold
Alpine Skiing    Super-G, Standing    Gold
Alpine Skiing    Slalom, Standing    Gold
Alpine Skiing    Super Combined, Standing    Gold
Alpine Skiing    Giant Slalom, Standing    Gold

2010 PARALYMPIC WINTER GAMES MEDAL COUNT FOR VIVIAN FOREST

Sport    Event    Medal
Alpine Skiing    Downhill, Visually Impaired    Gold
Alpine Skiing    Super-G, Visually Impaired    Silver
Alpine Skiing    Slalom, Visually Impaired    Silver
Alpine Skiing    Super Combined, Visually Impaired    Silver
Alpine Skiing    Giant Slalom, Visually Impaired    Bronze

About the Canadian Paralympic Committee
The Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) is a non-profit, private organisation with 43 member sports organisations dedicated to strengthening the Paralympic Movement. The CPC is responsible for creating an optimal high-performance environment for the Canadian Paralympic athletes to win at Paralympic and ParaPanAmerican Games.  By supporting Canadian Paralympic athletes and promoting their success, the CPC inspires all Canadians with a physical disability to get involved in sport through programs delivered by its member organisations.  For more information, visit www.paralympic.ca.

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For further information please contact:
 
Michael Cvitkovic
Press Chief
Canadian Paralympic Committee
mcvitkovic@tenniscanada.com
(604) 388-8420 or (416) 618-1266

Sophie Pilon
Media Attache, Para-Alpine
Canadian Paralympic Committee
spilon@canski.org
(403) 815-7340