Woolstencroft becomes first female to win five gold at a Winter Paralympics

WHISTLER, BC, March 20 /CNW Telbec/ - 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 thought 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 world-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 all 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 organization with 43 member sports organizations 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 organizations. 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]; Sophie Pilon, Media Attache, Para-Alpine, Canadian Paralympic Committee, [email protected], [phone]