Anna-Lena Forster (born 15 June 1995) is a German para-alpine skier who competed at the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

and

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), was an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the Inte ...

winning six medals.

Early life

Forster was born in Radolfzell,

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

Germany. She was born without a right leg and with bones missing in her left leg. She started skiing at the age of six at the VDK Munchen ski club.

Career

Forster competes in the

LW12 LW12 is a para-alpine and para-Nordic sit skiing ''sport class'' defined by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). An LW12 skier needs to meet a minimum of one of several conditions including a single below knee but above ankle amputation ...

para-alpine skiing classification Para-alpine skiing classification is the classification system for para-alpine skiing designed to ensure fair competition between alpine skiers with different types of disabilities. The classifications are grouped into three general disability typ ...

using a mono-ski and

outriggers An outrigger is a projecting structure on a boat, with specific meaning depending on types of vessel. Outriggers may also refer to legs on a wheeled vehicle that are folded out when it needs stabilization, for example on a crane that lifts ...

. At the 2013

IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships The World Para Alpine Skiing Championships, known before the 2017 edition as the IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, along with the Winter Paralympic Games, are the most prestigious level of international competition in Paralympic alpine skiing ...

held in La Molina, Spain, she won a silver medal in the women's slalom in a time of 2 minutes 31.31 seconds. She was also placed fourth in the super-combined and fifth in the

super-G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event d ...

but she failed to finish the giant slalom. Forster was selected as part of the German team for the 2014 Winter Paralympics in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, Russia. Competing in the slalom she finished in a time of 2 minutes 14.35 seconds and was identified as the gold medal winner and press releases announcing her victory were posted. She was given gold because her compatriot

Anna Schaffelhuber Anna Katharina Schaffelhuber (born 26 January 1993) is a German para-alpine skier. At the 2014 Winter Paralympics she won five gold medals, becoming only the second athlete to sweep the alpine skiing events. Early life Schaffelhuber was born ...

, who finished in a faster time, was disqualified for not having her outriggers in a stationary position at the start of her first run. Following an appeal Schaffelhuber was reinstated and Forster was awarded the silver medal. Forster won her second silver medal of the Games, again finishing behind Schaffelhuber, in the combined. The two German skiers were the only athletes to complete the race. Her third Paralympic medal, a bronze, came in the giant slalom where she finished behind Schaffelhuber and Austrian skier

Claudia Lösch Claudia Lösch (born 19 October 1988) is a successful Austrian Paralympian and alpine monoskier. She won gold medals in the slalom and super slalom at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver. She also won a silver medal at the Alpine skiing ...

in a time of 2 minutes 59.33 seconds. In the downhill Forster came fourth and therefore missed out on a medal. She failed to finish the super-G event. Forster was nominated for the

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...

Sports Personality of the Year award in 2012 and in 2013 she was awarded a gold medal by her home town of Radolfzell to mark her achievements. She won the silver medal in the women's downhill sitting event at the

held in Beijing, China.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forster, Anna-Lena 1995 births Living people German female alpine skiers Paralympic alpine skiers of Germany Paralympic gold medalists for Germany Paralympic silver medalists for Germany Paralympic bronze medalists for Germany Paralympic medalists in alpine skiing Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Paralympics People from Radolfzell Sportspeople from Freiburg (region) 21st-century German women