On March 9, the women's sprint (free technical) visually impaired competition in cross-country skiing at the Beijing Winter Paralympic Winter Games ended, and 23-year-old Austrian Karina Ederinger won the gold medal in 3:49.6. From Pyeongchang four years ago when he was disappointed by high hopes and now won the championship in Beijing, Edlinger has finally made up for his regrets.
Edlinger began practicing cross-country skiing at the age of 10 and won the Austrian National Youth Championship. "I love winter, I love skiing, I love spending time outdoors with my friends." In 2010, Edlinger's vision in both eyes began to deteriorate due to a rare genetic disorder, and she thought her days of winning in sports were over. Until she discovered Paralympic cross-country skiing.
Edlinger crossed the finish line to celebrate the victory.
"Becoming a successful athlete has always been my dream. For me, I want to make the dream in my heart a reality. "Starting out in Paralympic cross-country skiing was tough, and Edlinger even thought about ending his career at one point. In the continuous persistence, Edlinger also slowly achieved good results, which gave her the motivation to continue. "Although I have experienced so many years of great setbacks, I absolutely love the sport from the bottom of my heart and I have gained strength from overcoming difficulties. I will continue until I reach my goal. ”
In PyeongChang in 2018, Edlinger, who participated in the Winter Paralympic Games for the first time, was very optimistic, but she only won a bronze medal in the three events she participated in, which made her a little disappointed. After that, Edlinger's health problems also worsened, and it took her a long time to recover before returning to her beloved ski slopes. In Beijing in 2022, Edlinger finally won the long-awaited gold medal.
While skiing, Edlinger is studying news writing and writing articles for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) website. "I love talking to people and listening to interesting stories. I'm interested in any sport, not just getting involved, but more about communicating with people and listening to their stories, because almost everyone has an interesting story. As with skiing, being a journalist is challenging, Edlinger said, "but, in my opinion, anything is possible." As long as you have the will, you can always find a way. ”
For more information, please pay attention to the Winter Paralympic Games Journal
Winter Paralympic Games Proceedings | Reporter Sun Yan'an
Edited by Kang Dian
Process Editor Wu Yue