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March 22, 2010
Congrats, Lauren, on an amazing Paralympic Winter Games
![Lauren Woolstencroft with medals [550 x 310 px]](/etc/medialib/internet/images/people/lauren_with_medals_550x310.Par.0001.Image.jpg) | |
| Canada's Lauren Woolstencroft holds up the five gold medals she won at the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Whistler. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward) | |
Posted by Rob Klovance
It was with some trepidation that I wrote a 2010 Paralympic Winter Games preview that suggested para alpine skier Lauren Woolstencroft could win five medals at the Games. Was I setting her up for failure, at least in the minds of those who read that piece?
It turns out that I underestimated her potential.
The BC Hydro engineer, who had won five medals in two prevous Paralympic Winter Games, delivered five gold medals in her five races at Whistler. And after she'd won a couple by incredible margins, the only question as the week moved along was not whether she could win gold, but whether one slip would cost her that perfect 5-for-5 run through the Games.
Never happened. Not even close. Lauren is the unquestioned Golden Girl of the Games, a fact underlined by her selection to carry the Canadian flag at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games closing ceremonies.
"It's a big surprise," said Woolstencroft, 28, after learning she had been chosen to carry the flag, over the likes of triple-gold medallist cross-country skier Brian McKeever. "The team is so strong and there are lots of amazing athletes on it.
"It was never my goal to carry the flag. I am really humbled."
In winning her fifth medal Saturday, taking the two-run super-combined race by nearly 12 seconds, Lauren became the most decorated female athlete in a single Winter Paralympics. Seven women had won four gold in the 34-year history of the Games, but no one had won five.
Born with no legs below the knee and no left arm, Lauren had talked for months about how improved training for the Canadian para alpine skiers was increasing the expectations for all skiers. As she won Golden Globes (for overall para alpine World Cup titles), she kept stressing how the Canadian team was getting so much better.
She will be overjoyed that fellow para alpine skiers, including visually impaired skier Viviane Forest of Edmonton (one gold, three silvers, one bronze) contributed plenty to Canada's best-ever final medal tally of 19, including 10 golds. That's four better than Canada's previous best, and it was enough to help our nation meet its pre-Games goal of finishing third in the medal standings.
Winning big
Poor conditions at Whistler postponed alpine skiing events for a couple of days and compressed Lauren's five events into six days. But if that intense schedule bothered her, she didn't show it on the slopes.
Lauren's closest margin of victory was a whopping 4.4 seconds in the women's standing downhill. She never faltered, and never hinted that anyone else had a realistic chance of knocking her from the top step of the podium.
"I knew I had the potential, but to do it is something else," said the North Van resident, who had taken a leave of absence from her BC Hydro engineering job to concentrate on training for the Games. "Ski racing, you can catch an edge at any moment. Just to be consistent like that in five races, it's huge. It means a lot."
And it means a lot to Canadians. We may have been disappointed by the performance of our elite skiers at the 2010 Olympic Games, but Lauren and her fellow para alpine team members more than made up for at the Paralympic Games.
Thanks, and congratulations to all our Paralympians on their outstanding efforts.
See the Vancouver Sun's 2010 Winter Games site for an excellent all-Lauren slideshow of photos from these Games.
Rob Klovance is managing editor of bchydro.com.
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