2010 Winter Games

Print This Page

BC Hydro engineer Lauren Woolstencroft skis during training at the IPC women's downhill competition in Whistler in 2008. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)

February 25, 2010

Five medals? Woolstencroft aims high at Paralympic Games

Rob Klovance
bchydro.com

Canada's "Own The Podium" program ultimately proved more aspirational than realistic at the 2010 Winter Olympics (even though we did own the top step. And at the upcoming Paralympic Winter Games, no one expects Canada to finish atop the overall standings.

But on an individual level, we have an athlete with the potential to Own The Podium. Her name is Lauren Woolstencroft, and in case you missed it, she's out to win multiple medals on the slopes of Whistler.

The BC Hydro engineer, who took a leave of absence from her day job to concentrate on para alpine skiing's World Cup circuit in preparation for the games, is capable of winning medals in slalom, giant slalom, super giant slalom, downhill and the super combined events. She won three medals, including two gold, at the Salt Lake City Paralympic Games in 2002, the added a gold and silver at the 2006 Games in Torino, Italy.

"I'm a better skier now than I was in Torino, and I'm still seeing improvement," Woolstencroft said to a reporter a year ago. A month after the interview, she won four gold medals at the 2009 IPC World Championships in Kangwon Land, Korea.

Born missing both legs below the knee and her left arm below the elbow, the Calgary native first skied at age four and was a member of the national team at 16. In the past, she has been more comfortable in alpine skiing's speed events – downhill and giant slalom – but she has worked hard on her slalom technique and heads into the Games ranked third in the IPC standings in that discipline.

"My natural ability has always led me to the speed events and GS," she said in an interview a couple years ago. "Slalom is a challenging discipline and has taken me more time to develop. Our increased dryland training has improved my agility and strength, and we spend more time training slalom."

Atop the slalom standings is Germany's Andrea Rothfuss, who won a single medal at Torino four years ago but has emerged as a great rival of Woolstencroft.

Note that tickets are available for most Paralympic events, including tickets to all of Woolstencroft's races. In Vancouver, you can also join us daily in watching the Games at the Power Smart Village, which remains open through the Paralympic Winter Games.

Canada's Paralympic hopes

After finishing sixth with a modest 12 medals at the 2006 Torino Paralympic Winter Games, Canada's goal is to finish third in 2010. But that won't be easy as Canada continues to rely on a few key veteran stars for a big chunk of its medals total.

"Frankly, we were hoping some Wayne Gretzkys, for want of a better term, would be identified ... and could be fast-tracked for 2010, but that didn't happen," Brian MacPherson, chief operating officer of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, told a Vancouver Sun reporter last year.

That puts the pressure back on three key athletes, including Woolstencroft, visually impaired alpine skier Chris Williamson and visually impaired cross-country skier Brian McKeever, who has  seven Paralympic medals to his credit.

At Torino, the trio combined to win eight of Canada's 12 medals, including five gold.

Among the others to watch are the Canadian sledge hockey team, which won a shootout for gold over the U.S. at a Four Nations warmup tournament at UBC's Thunderbird Arena last year.

Rob Klovance is managing editor of bchydro.com.