The final day of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games came
to an enthralling, golden end. Lauren Woolstencroft, 28, from North Vancouver showed the world why she’s
quite the competitor and the most decorated female athlete from any country at this year’s Games.
Woolstencroft won her fifth consecutive gold medal for Canada’s para-alpine ski team in Whistler on March 20,
racing to victory in the super combined, which includes one super-G run with a slalom. She crossed the finish
line with a combined time of two minutes and 22.67 seconds, which meant a win by more then 12 seconds.
Woolstencroft was born missing her left arm below the elbow as well as both legs below the knees. Her family
was made up of avid skiers, so the sport was in her blood. The ambitious girl from Calgary put on her skis at
age four and by 14, she began competitive skiing.
She represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City and won two gold medals and a bronze.
When she returned at the 2006 Games in Turin, she won another gold and her first silver.
Woolstencroft was contemplating on retiring from competitive skiing after the 2006 Games, but eventually
decided to stick around to compete in Canada in 2010. It was her love of the sport that kept her motivated.
“You're not on top of the podium every day, so it's my passion that gets me through the hard times,”
Woolstencroft told Canadian Living magazine.
This year, she showed Canada how lucky we are to have her still competing, and she proved to herself how
determined, dedicated and fearless she was all along. “I never thought I would actually win the five medals,”
said Woolstencroft in a release from the Canadian Paralympic Committee following her record medal haul. “I
knew I had the potential but you can never know what is going to happen.”
She won her five medals in the giant slalom, slalom, super-G, downhill skiing and the super combined events.
Woolstencroft became the first Canadian to win three golds at the same Winter Paralympics, and with her fifth
gold medal win, she set the record for most gold medals won by any Winter Paralympian at a single Games.
The Winter Paralympics has a 34-year history and in that time there have only been seven women to win four
gold medals in a single Games. The last competitor was Ragnhild Myklebust from Norway in cross country
and the U.S.’s Sarah Hill in alpine skiing.
Like freestyle skier Alexandre Bilodeau, the first Canadian to win gold on home soil in the 2010 Vancouver
Olympic Games, Woolstencroft will also be an Olympic legend not only because of her amazing accomplishments,
but because of her courage and endless determination displayed this year.•
