Iceland at the 2014 Winter Paralympics

Iceland at the
2014 Winter Paralympics
IPC codeISL
NPCNational Paralympic Committee of Iceland
Websitewww.ifsport.is
in Sochi
Competitors2 in 1 sport
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Winter Paralympics appearances (overview)

Iceland sent a delegation to compete at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia from 7–16 March 2014. This was Iceland's third time participating at a Winter Paralympic Games. The Icelandic delegation consisted of two alpine skiers, Erna Friðriksdóttir and Jóhann Þór Hólmgrímsson. Jóhann finished 23rd in the men's sitting giant slalom, while Erna finished 10th in the women's sitting slalom and 9th in the women's sitting giant slalom.

Background

Iceland has participated in every Summer Paralympics since the 1980 Summer Paralympics. Before Sochi, they had only participated in two Winter Paralympic Games, the 1994 and 2010 editions, Sochi was therefore their third appearance at a Winter Paralympics.[1] The 2014 Winter Paralympics were held from 7–16 March 2014, in Sochi, Russia; 45 countries and 547 athletes took part in the multi-sport event.[2] The Icelandic delegation to Sochi consisted of two alpine skiers, Erna Friðriksdóttir and Jóhann Þór Hólmgrímsson.[3][4] Erna was chosen as the Icelandic flag-bearer for the parade of nations during the opening ceremony,[5] and Jóhann was chosen for the closing ceremony.[6]

Disability classification

Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories: amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, though there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; and Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, like dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.[7][8] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Events with "B" in the code are for athletes with visual impairment, codes LW1 to LW9 are for athletes who stand to compete and LW10 to LW12 are for athletes who compete sitting down.[9] Alpine skiing events grouped athletes into separate competitions for sitting, standing and visually impaired athletes.[10]

Alpine skiing

Jóhann Þór Hólmgrímsson was born with spina bifida, and is classified as an LW12-1 and competes in a sitting position.[11] He was 21 years old at the time of the Sochi Paralympics.[12] On 13 March, Jóhann took part in the men's sitting slalom, but did not finish the first leg of the race.[13] On 15 March, in the men's sitting giant slalom, he finished the first run in 1 minute and 56.84 seconds,[14] and the second run in a faster 1 minute and 41.59 seconds.[15] Jóhann's total time of 3 minutes and 38.43 seconds put him 23rd and last among competitors who finished both legs.[16] The gold medal was won by Christoph Kunz of Switzerland in a time of 2 minutes and 32.73 seconds.[16]

Erna Friðriksdóttir was also born with spina bifida, and is also classified as LW12-1.[17] She had previously represented Iceland at the 2010 Winter Paralympics, and was 26 years old at the time of the Sochi Paralympics.[17][18] On 12 March, she participated in the women's sitting slalom, finishing the first run in a time of 1 minute and 33.41 seconds,[19] and the second in 1 minute and 36.89 seconds.[20] Her time of 3 minutes and 10.30 seconds placed her 10th and last among the classified finishers, and 1 minute behind gold medallist Anna Schaffelhuber of Germany.[21] Four days later, on 16 March, she competed in the women's sitting giant slalom. She posted run times of 1 minute and 49.53 seconds[22] and a faster 1 minute and 41.66 seconds.[23] Her total time was 3 minutes and 31.19 seconds, placing her 9th out of 12 finishers, and roughly 40 seconds behind the gold medalist Schaffelhuber.[24]

Athlete Event Run 1 Run 2 Final/Total
Time Diff Rank Time Diff Rank Time Diff Rank
Jóhann Þór Hólmgrímsson Men's slalom, sitting DNF
Men's giant slalom, sitting 1:56.84 +38.74 31 1:41.59 +27.49 22 3:38.43 +1:05.70 23
Erna Friðriksdóttir Women's slalom, sitting 1:33.41 +28.34 10 1:36.89 +32.03 10 3:10.30 +1:00.37 10
Women's giant slalom, sitting 1:49.53 +19.09 9 1:41.66 +22.00 10 3:31.19 +39.93 9

See also

References

  1. ^ "Iceland". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  2. ^ "Sochi 2014 Paralympics". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  3. ^ Roberts, Zoë. "Social Affairs Minister Criticized for Skipping Sochi". Iceland Review. 6 March 2014. Archived from the original on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Iceland: Six facts on the Sochi 2014 Paralympics" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Sochi 2014 Opening Ceremony flag bearers". International Paralympic Committee. 7 March 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Sochi 2014 Closing Ceremony flag bearers". International Paralympic Committee. 16 March 2014. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Paralympics categories explained". ABC. 3 September 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Making sense of the categories". BBC Sport. 6 October 2000. Archived from the original on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Classification". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Sochi Winter Paralympics: Guide to the sports". BBC Online. 18 February 2014. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Athlete Bio – HOLMGRIMSSON Johann Thor". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Johann Thor HOLMGRIMSSON – Alpine Skiing – Iceland". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Men's Slalom 1st Run – Sitting – Alpine Skiing". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Men's Giant Slalom 1st Run – Sitting – Alpine Skiing". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Men's Giant Slalom 2nd Run – Sitting – Alpine Skiing". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  16. ^ a b "Alpine Skiing at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games – Men's Giant Slalom Sitting". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  17. ^ a b "Athlete Bio – FRIDRIKSDOTTIR Erna". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  18. ^ "Erna FRIDRIKSDOTTIR – Alpine Skiing – Iceland". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  19. ^ "Women's Slalom 1st Run – Sitting – Alpine Skiing". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  20. ^ "Women's Slalom 2nd Run – Sitting – Alpine Skiing". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  21. ^ "Alpine Skiing at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games – Women's Slalom Sitting". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  22. ^ "Women's Giant Slalom 1st Run – Sitting – Alpine Skiing". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  23. ^ "Women's Giant Slalom 2nd Run – Sitting – Alpine Skiing". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  24. ^ "Alpine Skiing at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games – Women's Giant Slalom Sitting". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.