Viviane Forest of Canada and guide Lindsay Debou compete in the Women's Visually Impaired Super Combined Slalom at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games © • Getty Images

Related News

Canada’s Forest retires from Paralympic career

Canada’s Forest Prepares for Her Comeback

Related Blogs

Natalia Dannenberg: My favourites

“One of my main messages I tell them is that whatever you like to do in life, follow your passion, never give up and always believe in yourself.”

There were no medals at stake on the final career run of three-time Paralympic gold medallist Vivane Forest at last month’s Para-Alpine Canadian Championships, yet the nerves still rippled through her.

This was the swan song for the Canadian visually impaired skier, as she was leaving her career at its pinnacle with Paralympic titles in both alpine skiing and goalball following that run.

Leaving the slopes

Forest announced her retirement from para-sport on 29 March, but she knew the 2012-13 season would be her last before it even began

She had spent the last two years recovering and rehabbing from a series of ailments, including a wrist injury and a concussion. She sustained both injuries at the absolute peak of her career – a downhill run that won her a gold medal at Vancouver 2010.

The 17-time World Cup title-holder doesn’t remember the medal ceremony, nor does she have much recollection of the next few days of competition where she claimed another two silver medals.

That’s why this moment, this decision to retire from competitive skiing, stood out so clearly in her mind.

“This season was a chance to prove to myself that I was able to ski and be successful,” Forest said. “I didn’t want to push my luck and have a chance to get badly injured.”

The proof was in the results, including a Canadian championship, numerous NORAM Cup victories and two medals, a silver and a bronze, at the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in La Molina, Spain.

There were no questions left unanswered, no regrets left unturned by the woman aptly nicknamed “the falcon” for her ability to reach blistering speeds going downhill.

The last hurrah

For the last hurrah down the slopes, a familiar name was summoned as Forest’s guide. Canada’s first dual-sport Paralympic gold medallist would be teamed with Nancy Greene Raine, a gold medallist at the 1968 Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble, France, and the country’s Female Athlete of the 20th Century.

“It was such a great moment for me,” Forest said. “It was kind and generous of her to accept my invitation to guide me for my last run. For her to do that was overwhelming and very emotional. I did that run with a lot of water in my eyes, but those were happy tears.

“We took our time. It wasn’t race mode, but it wasn’t a snow plow mode, either.”

The honour run was arranged by Alpine Canada, who suggested Forest do something special for her grand finale. Thus, her run with Greene Raine came to life.

Despite having just four per cent of her normal vision, Forest started skiing at age six.

She picked up the sport competitively in 2007 after eight years on Canada’s national goallball team, with which she won Paralympic golds at the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Games.

Her learning curve on the mountain was nonexistent, winning 13 of her first 14 races on the slopes.

“It’s funny because when I started skiing, I didn’t want to do a race because I was afraid of skiing dead last,” Forrest said.

“The thing that really helped me coming from another sport was that I knew how to eat. I knew how to prepare at that level.”

She described the run up to Vancouver as a rigorous, structured exercise with everything building toward making the podium.

The slopes of Whistler turned out to be Forest’s Paralympic playground, winning five medals, including the aforementioned gold with guide Lindsay Debou.

It was what happened after crossing the finish line, a fall, combined with a concussion and a wrist injury that still lingers, which gives her comfort in throwing in the towel now.

“I went through surgery and complications throughout the recovery process. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to compete again, let alone complete at that level,” she said.

“To be on the national team again and go to a World Championships, it was a great accomplishment. I don’t need to take the chance at getting injured again.”

Follow your passion

Sochi 2014 was never in the mind of Forest, who will now shift her focus to the classroom, where she’ll pass the torch to the next generation through numerous public speaking engagements.

To date, she’s met with more than 5,000 students at 120 schools in her native Quebec.

“One of my main messages I tell them is that whatever you like to do in life, follow your passion, never give up and always believe in yourself,” Forest said.

“Make sure you have the right people around you to give you the chance to accomplish your dream.”

Those dreams came true for Viviane Forest in her Paralympic career.

Right up to the very last honourary run.

The USA's Declan Farmer races to the puck in their group game against Norway in Goyang, Korea. © • IPC The Czechs beat the Norwegians 3-1 in the first game of the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool. © • IPC

Related Videos

Canada's Greg Westlake - 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool Goyang

Related News

Czech Republic and Russia shine in Goyang

2013 Ice Sledge Hockey Worlds open in Goyang

Related Features

New Czech coach off to quick start

In a hotly tipped Group-B matchup, Canada came out on top against Russia with a 4-3 victory.

Canada, the Czech Republic and the USA are all on the verge on qualifying for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games after starting their World Championship campaigns with two wins apiece.

All three teams won their games on Sunday (14 April) on the second day of action at the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool in Goyang, Korea, but Sochi 2014 qualification spots will not be officially announced until after group play concludes.

The top five finishers at the Championships automatically move on to the Winter Paralympic Games.

In Group A on Sunday, the USA showed why they’re the defending Paralympic and world champions, defeating Norway 7-0 in dominating fashion behind four scores from 21-year-old forward Josh Pauls.

It was actually Taylor Chace and Declan Farmer who opened up the scoring surge with the Americans, each scoring in the opening period to put them up 2-0 early.

All four goals by Pauls came in the second period, with two of them assisted by Farmer, one by Nikko Landeros and one by Tyler Carron.

“This was the best career game I’ve had,” Pauls said. “I’ve never scored four goals in a single game before. I’m not really even a scorer.

“It wasn’t just me, though, my linesman were giving me great passes and we were just really rolling as a team.”

Norway, meanwhile, only managed seven shots on goal in the game, compared to 23 by the USA.

Despite a low-scoring 1-0 affair in favor of the Czechs in Group A’s other game, the winning team seemed to easily put away Sweden on the ice, outplaying them with their physicality and speed.

Forward Jiri Berger scored the lone goal of the game for the Czech Republic at the 28:39 mark in the second period, as both teams had 13 shots on the net during the entire contest.

Michal Vapenka recorded the shoutout in the net for the Czechs with 10 saves, as Rasmus Lundgren had a team-high four shots on goal for Sweden.

The Czech Republic’s highly touted final group game this week will pit them against the undefeated American squad.

“We are not tired yet and we still have a lot of energy left in us for this tournament,” Beger said.

“We surprised the USA last year at the World Championships and beat them, so I think we hurt their confidence a little bit and that could play to our advantage this year.”

In a hotly tipped Group-B matchup, Canada came out on top against Russia with a 4-3 victory.

Veteran Brad Bowden started the scoring for the Canadians, finding the net just 3:48 into the game, and then captain Greg Westlake scored nearly two minutes later to put them up 2-0 early.

Bowden, along with Billy Bridges, each notched goals shortly after that in the first period to give Canada the 4-0 edge.

Russia finally made headway as Dmitry Lisov scored once late in the first and then early in the third to close the gap to 4-2. Ilia Volkova was able to knock one past Canadian goaltender Benoit St-Amand as well, but not until just 19 seconds were left in the game and it was already too late.

Bowden, named Player of the Game, said he will take the next Championship matches one at a time and is not yet looking ahead to a potential semi-final matchup against the USA or the Czech Republic.

In the day’s final game in Group B, Italy upset host nation Korea in front of a vocal local Goyang crowd. It was Italy’s first win of the tournament, with their goals coming from defenseman Gianluigi Rosa and forward Andrea Chiarotti.

Dong-Shin Jang had the lone score for the home team, who have yet to win a game at the Championships thus far.

Teams now have a day off before resuming play for the final slate of group games on Tuesday (16 April).

Next up, Italy will face Russia at 10:45 on Tuesday, followed by Korea against Canada at 14:00, a game that will be showcased live on Korean broadcaster KBS.

Then Norway will take on Sweden at 17:00 and the USA will face off against the Czech Republic at 20:00.

All games are being streamed live on the IPC's YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/ParalympicSportTV.

For more information on the Championships, please visit the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool website www.icesledgehockeyworlds.org.

You can also follow the action on Twitter @IPCISH and on the ice sledge hockey Facebook page www.Facebook.com/IceSledgeHockey.

The USA's Greg Shaw goes in for the puck during the Americans' 7-0 win against Sweden in Goyang, Korea. © • IPC

Related News

2013 Ice Sledge Hockey Worlds open in Goyang

Related Features

Czech Republic and Italy brush off rivalry

"Our goal is to win and only to win here, and we’re ready to win from both the physical and emotional point of view.”

The Czech Republic’s 3-1 win over Norway and Russia’s 2-1 victory against host nation Korea highlighted the first day of action at the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships on Saturday (13 April) in Goyang, Korea.

The Czechs won a fiercely fought game against the Norwegians by outshooting their opponents 24-9 behind two early goals by forward Jiri Raul.

Audun Baake was the lone player to find the net for Norway, keeping his team within one score for much of the final period. However, David Palat chipped in a shot with 29 seconds to go in the game to seal the win for the Czechs under new head coach Jiri Briza, who was making his World Championship debut at the helm.

Following the game, Czech team captain Zdenek Safranek insisted on getting his team back to the Winter Paralympic Games next year after finishing fifth at Vancouver 2010.

“It is our goal to finish in the top five in Goyang and qualify for Sochi, and if we get to the bronze or gold-medal game here that will be an extra bonus,” he said.

Russia, meanwhile, surprised the home team, as Dmitry Lisov scored in the first period to give the Russians an early 1-0 lead that they would keep for the rest of the day. Evgeny Petrov, who assisted on the first score, then found the net in the third period off a pass from Lisov to pad their lead.

Young-Sung Kim scored on an assist from Seung-Hwan Jung for Korea with just under two minutes left in the game, but it proved to be too little, too late.

Despite that, the Russian players were more than impressed with Korea’s offense, which outshot them 25-12.

“Korea are a very high-level team that’s become very strong and have played very well together lately,” Russia’s Konstantin Shikhov said. “They showed that they’re just as fast as anyone out there.

“But our goal is to win and only to win here, and we’re ready to win from both the physical and emotional point of view.”

Greg Westlake and Brad Bowden, both on the IPC’s Ones to Watch list for this season, powered together to help Canada cruise against Italy, 5-0. Westlake notched a pair of scores – both assisted by Bowden – while Bowden had a score of his own on a pass from Westlake.

Adam Dixon also notched two goals for the Canadians on the night, one assisted by Bowden, and Corbin Watson recorded the shutout for the winning team in the net.

Gianluigi Rosa led the Italian effort with four shots on goal, and Greg Leperdi had three attempts at the net.

Defending Paralympic and world champions USA came out firing on all cylinders earlier in the day, easily beating Sweden 7-0.

Declan Farmer and Taylor Chace starred for the Americans, scoring two goals apiece, as the winning team outshot their opponents on the ice 28-8.

Paul Schaus, Kevin McKee and Nikko Landeros recorded the other scores for the USA, with Steve Cash and Jen Lee splitting the shutout in the net and combining for eight saves.

Aron Anderson and Per Kasperi led the Swedish effort with three and two shots on goal, respectively.

Group play will continue on Sunday (14 April), as the Czech Republic and Sweden will face off at 9:15 local time, followed by USA against Norway at 12:30. Then, Canada will play Russia at 15:45 and Italy will challenge Korea in the evening game at 19:00.

The top five finishers from the Championships will automatically qualify for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.

All games are being streamed live on the IPC's YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/ParalympicSportTV.

For more information on the Championships, please visit the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool website www.icesledgehockeyworlds.org.

You can also follow the action on Twitter @IPCISH and on the ice sledge hockey Facebook page www.Facebook.com/IceSledgeHockey.

"I've rarely witnessed such a passionate drive to succeed."

The late wheelchair racing pioneer Andre Viger has been selected to the Class of 2013 for the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

Viger competed at five Paralympic Games between 1980 and 1996, winning three gold medals, four silver and three bronze. He was the first Canadian to win a medal at a Paralympic demonstration event, with a bronze in the 1,500 metres during the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984. Viger's exploits on the track increased the profile for wheelchair racing and paved the way for future greats such as Chantal Petitclerc and Diane Roy.

"Andre Viger was an icon of international wheelchair sport," said David Legg, President of the Canadian Paralympic Committee. "His commitment to the sport was legendary and his records have set a very high bar for those who have followed."

Viger was born in Windsor, Ontario, and grew up in Sherbrooke, Quebec. He lost the use of his legs at age 20 in a car accident. Soon after, he began rigorous training in his wheelchair for long distance racing.

Viger set new world records in the 1,500m, the 5,000m, and the 10,000m. He won the wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon three times, along with countless other marathons.

Viger also revolutionized adapted sports equipment, as the first athlete to use a racing wheelchair with three wheels.

"As Andre Viger's personal coach for 11 years, I've rarely witnessed such a passionate drive to succeed," said Jean Laroche, Athletics Canada's High Performance Lead Coach at the Sherbrooke Centre. "He had an unlimited source of energy. Andre was bigger than his sport and for him, finishing second was like finishing last."

The Canadian Sports Hall of Fame 2013 Induction Celebrations will take place 16 October, at Toronto's Sheraton Center. Viger will join some of the biggest names in Canadian sport as honoured members, including Petitclerc, Rick Hansen, Terry Fox and Lauren Woolstencroft.

After retiring from athletics, he began a career as a businessman and co-owned an orthopaedic device store in Montreal (La Maison Andre Viger). His accomplishments have also earned him a place into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame and Paralympic Hall of Fame.

André Viger died of cancer on 1 October 2006, aged 54.