Event Advisory - Photo Opportunity - Gold and bronze for Canada in Paralympic
women's slalom

Woolstencroft wins, Wisniewska third

WHISTLER, BC, March 15 /CNW Telbec/ - Lauren Woolstencroft (North Vancouver) captured gold in the women's slalom, standing division and teammate Karolina Wisniewska won bronze as Canada captured its first double podium finish of the Paralympic Winter Games.

Woolstencroft had the best time in both runs, finishing with a combined time of 1:51.97, owning a lead of 6.38 seconds. Wisniewska completed the competition in 1:58.84, just 0.49 seconds behind silver medalist Andrea Rothfuss of Germany. Woolstencroft drew on experience after her first run found her in the lead.

"I've had some experience being in that position, so you know, I kind of looked back on that," she explained. "It was nice to have a couple of delays and get used to seeing the crowd. It's crazy. I have so much family here. It's nice to win on home soil. On my first run, I was pretty focused and I didn't see the crowd. On my second run, I could hear it (the crowd) from the start gate. I just wanted to get to the finish line."

The victory is the fourth Paralympic gold medal for Woolstencroft and sixth medal in total. With her bronze medal performance, Wisniewska owns a total of seven Paralympic medals, dating back to 1998.

The women's slalom marked the first double-podium finish for Canada at these Paralympic Winter Games. Through three days of competition, Canada stands third in overall medal count with six (two gold, three silver, one bronze).

    
    PARALYMPIC MEDIA HISTORY FOR LAUREN WOOLSTENCROFT
    -------------------------------------------------

    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

    PARALYMPIC MEDIA HISTORY FOR KAROLINA WISNIEWSKA
    ------------------------------------------------

    Year      Sport              Event                                Medal

    1998      Alpine Skiing      Women's Giant Slalom LW3,4,5/7,6/8   Silver
    1998      Alpine Skiing      Women's Super-G LW3,4,5/7,6/8        Silver
    2002      Alpine Skiing      Women's Downhill LW3,4,6/8,9         Bronze
    2002      Alpine Skiing      Women's Super-G LW3,4,6/8,9          Bronze
    2002      Alpine Skiing      Women's Giant Slalom LW3,4,9         Silver
    2002      Alpine Skiing      Women's Slalom LW3,4,9               Silver
    2010      Alpine Skiing      Women's Slalom standing              Bronze

    MEDIA AVAILABILITY
    ------------------

    Who:   -  Lauren Woolstencroft and Karolina Wisniewska, Paralympic gold
              and bronze medalists respectively from Para-Alpine will be
              available to the media.

    How:   -  Accredited media only (photo opportunity) - Whistler Medals
              Plaza, Whistler at 19:00 PT.
           -  All media - Canada Paralympic House (Whistler Public Library)
              immediately following medal ceremony.
    

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.

Follow the Canadian Paralympic Committee by becoming a fan on Facebook, and following on Twitter.

For further information: Michael Cvitkovic, Press Chief, Canadian Paralympic Committee, [email protected], [phone] or [phone]; Sophie Pilon, Media Attache, Para-Alpine, Public Relations and Media, Alpine Canada Alpin, [email protected], [phone]