Stats That Matter: Female Paralympians
Since the beginning, female paralympians have played a significant role in fighting for equality. This past summer of 2021, the number of women who participated in the paralympics set a record.
At the 2022 Winter Paralympics, there will be 736 para-athletes and 78 medal events. In addition to having 39 medal events for men, 35 events for women, and four mixed events, there will be 222 slots available for women.
The para-alpine skiing program will feature 30 medal events (15 male and 15 female). In these events, there will be slots for 140 men and 80 women, which represents a 7.7 and 33.3 percent growth, respectively, on the number of slots offered at the 2018 Pyeongchang Paralympics.
There are many notable women competing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, including Oksana Masters, who became a gold medalist in both the Summer and Winter Olympics in Tokyo. Hours after winning her last race in Tokyo, Masters transitioned from focusing on running to skiing. The 10-time Paralympian is looking to add to her medal count this year.
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Kendall Gretsch is another para-athlete that has also competed in the Summer Olympics. Gretsch won the gold in the triathlon event in Tokyo, and is now getting ready to compete in the cross country skiing and biathlon events.
One to watch is Brittani Couri, who broke her right ankle while snowboarding in 2003, and in the years to come, experienced continued complications with the ankle that required multiple surgeries. In June 2011, after nine surgeries, Couri decided to have her leg amputated below the knee to pursue a more active life. Couri first competed in para-snowboarding in 2016 and won a Paralympic silver medal in banked slalom in 2018.
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