WOOLSTENCROFT PURSUING HISTORY AT 2010 PARALYMPIC WINTER GAMES
 
WHISTLER, BC (March 19, 2010) – Lauren Woolstencroft (North Vancouver, BC) continues to pursue history at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Whistler, BC, winning her fourth consecutive gold medal after an impressive win in today’s super-G.
 
Woolstencroft, an electrical engineer who competes in the ladies standing category, finished with a time of 1:26.46, which was 5.46 seconds faster than second place Melania Corradini of Italy.
 
“This is definitely more then I expected. I knew I had it in me because I have medaled in all these events in World Cup or in the Games before. The biggest thing is to repeat it day after day with the hectic schedule that we have with five races in six days, especially after losing the first couple of days. That was the biggest hurdle. But I am obviously really happy,” said Woolstencroft, who with her third gold medal passed a mark that she shared with para-Nordic skier Brian McKeever for most gold medals by a Canadian athlete in a Paralympic Winter Games.
 
Woolstencroft has one more event to go, the super combined on Saturday. She will be seeking to join Chantal Petitclerc (athletics) and Stephanie Dixon (swimming) in achieving the most gold medals at a single Paralympic Games with five.
 
Today’s results bring the total of gold medals for Canada to seven, which is a Canadian record for most gold medals at any Winter Paralympic Games. The previous mark was six, set at the 2002 Salt Lake City Paralympics.
 
“The Canadian team has had an awesome four years and there were so much resources put into Paralympic sports in those years so that is one of the big reason why the Canadian team has been doing so well. I’m really happy I can be part of it,” she said,
 
Viviane Forest (Edmonton, AB) along with her guide Lindsay Debou (Whistler, BC) got Canada’s second medal today as she finished second in the ladies visually impaired category behind Slovakia’s Henrieta Farkasova with a time of 1:37.54.
 
The IPC World Cup overall champions, Forest and Debou got their fourth medal of these Paralympic Games.
 
“It has been an amazing experience so far in Whistler, the crowd is awesome, all the crew helping out makes these Games just even more special. I am really happy with my race today even if I ran out of gas a little bit today. We had to dig deep and Lindsay helped me all the way through the end of the course,” said Forest.
 
Also in the ladies standing category Karolina Wisniewska (Vancouver, BC) placed seventh with Melanie Schwartz (Toronto, ON) placing 14th. Andrea Dziewior did not take part in this event due to her crash in the finish area in yesterday’s downhill event.  
 
The 2010 IPC World Cup overall champion Christopher Williamson (Markham, ON) and his guide Nick Brush (Panorama, BC) finished in sixth place.
 
Josh Dueck (Vernon, BC) took 13th place in the men’s sitting division as Akiro Kano from Japan finished in first place. Jeff Dickson (Sudbury, ON) was the top Canadian in 16th in the men’s standing category with Matt Hallat (Whistler, BC) 18th while Morgan Perrin (Whistler BC) finished 20th. Germany’s Gerd Shonfelder.
 
The athletes will be competing in their last Paralympic Winter Game race tomorrow as the super combined takes place.
 
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INFORMATION:
Sophie Pilon
Media Attaché, Para-Alpine
Canadian Paralympic Committee
C: 403-815-7340