Event Advisory - Photo Opportunity - Double gold for Woolstencroft
Paralympics

WHISTLER, BC, March 17 /CNW Telbec/ - Lauren Woolstencroft (North Vancouver) has done it again at the Paralympic Winter Games. The 28-year-old captured gold in the women's giant slalom, standing division with a time of 2:11.50 at Whistler Creekside on Wednesday. The win marks the fifth career Paralympic gold medal for Woolstencroft and seventh medal in total. She becomes the first double gold medalist for Canada in this sport at either 2010 Olympic or Paralympic Winter Games.

"Giant slalom is one of my favourite events and I'm happy to win today and to repeat from Torino," said Woolstencroft. "I feel great with how I'm skiing. I have potential to medal in every event. I think I feel strong."

Woolstencroft seemed to fly in first run with a time of 1:15.62, building a 5.11 second lead on the competition heading into the final run. Her second run of 1:18.41 was still two seconds quicker than any other run on the hill. She joins biathlon athletes Verena Bentele of Germany and Anna Burmistrova of Russia as the only females at the Paralympics to earn double gold.

Karolina Wisniewska (Vancouver), who earned a bronze medal in the ladies slalom on Monday, finished fourth in the giant slalom, missing the podium by 2.4 seconds. Arly Fogarty and Melanie Schwartz finished 11th and 12th respectively.

After Wednesday's competition, Canada is tied with Germany for most para-alpine medals at these Games with six.

Canada improved to 6-1 in the wheelchair curling standings with an 8-6 win over Germany. The home team stole four in the third end and built a 6-1 lead. Germany scored three in the seventh end to make the game interesting but could only put one point on the scoreboard in the last end. The Germans were more accurate on the ice Wednesday, outpacing Canada 56% to 53% but could not capitalize.

Led by skip Jim Armstrong, Canada will face Japan tonight before closing our pool play on Thursday against Italy.

Para-nordic skier Jody Barber finished in an impressive seventh spot in the women's 12.5-kilometre biathlon standing competition on Wednesday. Barber, a resident of Smithers, BC, clocked a time of 51:06.5 for her second Top 10 finish at the Paralymics. She was forced to react quickly when she experienced an equipment malfunction.

"I'm really happy with my race and how I paced it out there," said Barber. "On my final shooting, my rifle jammed. I couldn't see anything and it was all black and we had to fiddle around with that for a while and then used a spare that I hadn't zeroed in on and it was right-handed (Barber shoots left) so it was extremely awkward for me. I miraculously shot clean with that, but definitely lost time there."

The Canadian sledge hockey team practiced Wednesday in preparation for their semifinal game against Japan on Thursday at 12:00 PT. The game will be televised live on Rogers Sportsnet and RIS.

    
    PARALYMPIC MEDIA HISTORY FOR LAUREN WOOLSTENCROFT
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    Year   Sport             Event                                Medal

    2002   Alpine Skiing     Women's Giant Slalom LW3,4,9         Bronze
    2002   Alpine Skiing     Women's Slalom LW3,4,9               Gold
    2002   Alpine Skiing     Women's Super-G LW3,4,6/8,9          Gold
    2006   Alpine Skiing     Women's Giant Slalom standing        Gold
    2006   Alpine Skiing     Women's Super-G standing             Silver
    2010   Alpine Skiing     Women's Slalom standing              Gold
    2010   Alpine Skiing     Women's Giant slalom standing        Gold
    

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: Michael Cvitkovic, Press Chief, Canadian Paralympic Committee, [email protected], [phone] or [phone]; Marie-Helene Cayer, Media Relations (French Media), Canadian Paralympic Committee, [email protected], [phone]