Day Three: Canada and Germany Win Four of Six Medals Awarded for Standing Slalom

Bradley Washburn USA paralympics alpine skiing_2010 03 15_2959

Originally uploaded by Wheelchair Sports Federation

written by Peter Quartuccio

After a seemingly endless string of delays at Whistler Creekside, site of the Alpine Skiing events at the 2010 Winter Paralympics, action got under way Monday the 15th for the Men’s and Women’s Standing Slalom event. It was an unexpectedly warm day in Whistler, but neither the competitors nor the crowd who packed the place seemed to mind. Both the Men’s and Women’s classes were dominated by Canada, who took home two medals in the Women’s Slalom, and Germany, who won Silver in both the Men’s and Women’s events.

For the Men, New Zealander Adam Hall ran the table, leading after his first run by over two full seconds and edging past Germany’s Gerd Schonfelder for the overall time. Schonfelder’s excellent second run put him only half a second behind Gold Medalist Hall. In the Women’s Standing Slalom, Canada reigned supreme, occupying two of the three places on the Medal podium. Canadian Gold Medalist Lauren Woolstencroft dominated the event, winning by an enormous margin of 6.38 seconds. Teammate Karolina Wisniewska narrowly missed Silver, as German Andrea Rothfuss’ time bested Wisniewska’s by a margin of 49 seconds, forcing the latter to settle for the Bronze.

American skier Allison Jones recovered from a 7th place position after her first run thanks to a very strong second run. In fact, when she crossed the finish line her second time down the course, the time she posted put her in first. Unfortunately, her time didn’t hold up, as she wound up finishing in 5th place overall. Allison’s finishing slot, however, was the best among all American skiers that day, both Men and Women.

The best American performance in the Men’s class belonged to Monte Meier, who finished 8th.

For more coverage of the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, please visit www.WheelchairSportsFederation.org.