Karolina Wisniewska (born July 26, 1976) is a para-alpine standing skier. Born in Warsaw, she moved to Canada when she was 5 years old where she then took up skiing as a form of physical therapy for her

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

. Over the course of her skiing career, she won eight total Paralympic medals for skiing, and 18 medals at International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cups. At the

2002 Winter Paralympics The 2002 Winter Paralympics, the eighth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, from March 7 to 16, 2002. A total of 416 athletes from 36 nations participated. They were the first Winter Paralympics in the Ameri ...

, she earned four medals, the most ever earned by a Canadian para-alpine skier at a single Games. Wisniewska retired from the sport for a second time in May 2012 following an injury in 2011 that resulted in her missing most of the 2011/2012 skiing season.

Early life

Wisniewska was born on July 26, 1976, in Warsaw, Poland and moved to

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada when she was five years old. She was living in the Vancouver area in 2010, but was back in Calgary by 2012. Born with

which affects her legs and balance, Wisniewska took a break from skiing at one point in order to attend Oxford University. In 2007, she was inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame. In 2012, she was working as a senior program officer in the higher performance division of

Sport Canada Sport Canada is a branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage that develops federal sport policy in Canada, provides funding programs in support of sport, and administers special projects related to sport. Its mission "to enhance opportunities ...

. In 2017, Wisniewska was inducted into the

Canadian Paralympic Committee The Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC; French: ''Comité paralympique canadien'') is the private, non-profit organization representing Canadian Paralympic athletes in the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Parapan American Games. ...

's Hall of Fame.

Skiing

Wisniewska is a para-alpine standing skier, who took up the sport when she was five years old as part of physical therapy for her cerebral palsy. In 1994, she joined the Alberta Disabled Alpine Team, the first time she participated in skiing on the para-sport side. Prior to this, she belonged to the

Banff, Alberta Banff is a town within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately west of Calgary and east of Lake Louise. At above Banff is the community with the second highest e ...

based Sunshine Ski Club. Over the course of her skiing career, she won eight total Paralympic medals for skiing, and 18 medals at International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cups. In 1995, Wisniewska won every event in her class at the national championships and made her national team debut. The following year, she earned a gold medal at the World Championships in Super-G in Lech, Austria. She first represented Canada at the Winter Paralympics in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, she won a pair of silver medals in the Women's Giant Slalom LW3,4,5/7,6/8 event and the Women's Super-G LW3,4,5/7,6/8 event. At the

, she won four medals: two silvers and two bronzes. The silvers were in the Women's Giant Slalom LW3, LW4,

LW9 LW9 is a para-alpine and para-Nordic standing skiing ''sport class'', a classification defined by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for people with upper and lower limb function problems, and includes cerebral palsy skiers classified ...

event and Women's Slalom LW3,4,9 event. Her bronze medals were in the Women's Downhill LW3,4,6/8,9 event and the Women's Super-G LW3,4,6/8,9 event. Her four medals were the most ever one by a Canadian para-alpine skier at a single Paralympic Games. In 2003, she won the IPC World Cup Crystal Globe, which meant she was the overall IPC World Cup Champion for that year. In 2004, Wisniewska retired from skiing for the first time following a concussion. She came out of retirement in 2007 in order to attempt to make the Canadian team for a home hosted Winter Paralympic Games in 2010. At the Korean hosted 2008 IPC World Cup, she finished sixth at the slalom event with a combined time of 2:31.26. The

2010 Winter Paralympics ) , nations = 44 , athletes = 506 , events = 64 in 5 sports , opening = 12 March , closing = 21 March , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Zach Beaumont , stadium = BC Place , winter_pr ...

were her third Paralympics. She competed in the slalom, finishing in fourth following her first run and third in her second run in a round that saw one of the skiers ahead of her disqualified for skiing off the course. Wisniewska ended up with a bronze in the event, on a combined time of 1:58.84. Her finish coupled with teammate

Lauren Woolstencroft Lauren Woolstencroft (born November 24, 1981, in Calgary, Alberta)The Province"Woolstencroft's electric performance" Damian Inwood, 21 March 2010, (accessed 21 March 2010) is a Canadian alpine skier and electrical engineer. Born mis ...

's gold medal finish resulted in Canada's first double podium at the 2010 Games. Her second bronze medal of the Games was in the Super Combined. At the 2011 IPC World Championships, Wisniewska won a pair of bronze medals in the slalom and super combined events. In February 2011, she injured herself during a downhill race. In May 2012, she announced her retirement from the sport following an injury that kept her out of the sport for most of the 2011/2012 ski season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wisniewska, Karolina 1976 births Living people Alpine skiers at the 2010 Winter Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 2002 Winter Paralympics Polish emigrants to Canada Sportspeople from Warsaw Medalists at the 1998 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2010 Winter Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 1998 Winter Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Canada Paralympic bronze medalists for Canada Canadian female alpine skiers Medalists at the 2002 Winter Paralympics Paralympic medalists in alpine skiing Paralympic alpine skiers for Canada