Nichols skis to gold in Paralympics

In a cold rain Tuesday (March 16) at Whistler Creekside, BC, Alana Nichols and Stephani Victor grabbed gold and silver in the women’s sitting category at the Paralympics. Japan’s Kuniko Obionata took bronze with Laurie Stephans fifth, Ricca Kilgore was sixth and Luba Lowrey ninth for the Americans.

“There was so much pressure up at the top,” Nichols said, “I just put it out in faith and knew I had to ski what I had to ski…it’s all so intense, I can’t even put it together right now, but coming down to the bottom was just amazing. I lost it.”

Nichols previously won gold with the U.S. Wheelchair Basketball team in Beijing. Jim Martinson is the only male athlete to have won gold in summer and winter games, winning for alpine skiing (downhill in 1992) and track and field (1980 in men’s 100 meter and 4×100 meter relay).

Nichols has made remarkable progress, only starting to ski five years ago. She has been competing in skiing since 2008.

Victor, said Tuesday’s results were a testament to excellent skiing and the coaching support from the U.S Team’s staff. A veteran of the team, Victor said she has respect for Nichols’ athletic abilities and the energy she brings to the Team.

“I’m so excited for my teammate,” Victor said. “She skied an amazing first run and an even better second run. I’m proud to be up there with her and celebrate with her tonight.”

Ray Watkins, the Team’s head coach, said this was the toughest racing day he’s ever seen, citing the terrible weather conditions. “Both of these girls have tremendous spirit and fight. This is Alana’s first win in the GS and she picked a good time to do it. We get to hear our song tonight and that’s what it’s all about,” he said. “We’re thrilled for both of them.”
 
In the women’s visually impaired division, Slovakia’s Henrieta Farkasova, Austria’s Sabine Gasteiger and Canada’s Viviane Forest took home the gold, silver and bronze. The top U.S. skier was Caitlin Sarubbi in sixth.

Forest, and guide Lindsay Debou, finished the grueling two-run GS in three minutes 11.17 seconds, coming back to a medal position despite sitting forth after a difficult opening run. Forest fell at the end of her first run, aggravating a groin problem that originally occurred during a training camp in Panorama.

“It was definitely a challenge today. My second run was really difficult but I made my way down and I am just really happy. This bronze medal feels like gold for me and I’m so happy with what I did today,” said Forest.

“This medal means a lot for me right now. Going through all that pain was very difficult to overcome. We have amazing physiotherapists and doctors, they are the ones who helped me get this medal,” said Forest.

The GS didn’t favor the U.S. men as they were plagued by the poor visibility and variable course conditions. No U.S. male finished in the top ten Tuesday.

Martin Braxenthaler of Germany won the gold with a time of 2:37.40 while Switzerland’s Christoph Kunz claimed the silver (2:40.35, +2.95) and Takeshi Suzuki of Japan took the bronze (2:45.61, +8.21)

“That was what the Paralympics are all about,” said Carl Burnet after his second run. “Everything that could be thrown at you – rain, snow, wind, variable snow conditions, all of it –every element was there. It was a great challenge.”

In the men’s visually impaired giant slalom, Mark Bathum and his guide Slater Storey finished their first run in eight place, but found out later that they were disqualified for leaving the starting gate too late.

The classification’s podium was Slovakia’s Jakub Krako, Spain’s Jon Santacana Maiztegui and Italy’s Gianmaria Dal Maistro winning gold, silver and bronze.

It was heartbreak for Canadian Christopher Williamson and his guide Nick Brush as they finished in fourth, just four tenths off the podium in the men’s visually impaired GS. The gold went to Jakub Krako of Slovakia with Spain’s Jon Santacana Maiztegui earning the silver and Gianmaria Dal Maistro the bronze, just ahead of the Canadian.

“I’m going to try to put these two races behind me. I qualified pretty well in downhill training so I’m going to build on that and hopefully we can go from there. In order to win downhill I just need to ski faster,” said Williamson, who placed sixth in the slalom earlier in the week.

He said the rainy and overcast weather conditions that have been in Whistler all week were not a factor in today’s result.

“It was the same conditions for all my competitors, so I can’t put the blame on that. These are definitely not perfect conditions but it was equal for everyone so we have to take it as it is. We had a better place today then we did after the slalom so we are just going to build on it,” said Williamson.

Photos of Nichols, Forest&Debau by GEPA