Paralympics – Forster wins Germany’s first gold medal
Anna-Lena Forster triumphed on the alpine slopes to win Germany’s first gold medal at the Paralympics in Italy. There were also podium finishes in the biathlon.
Cortina d'Ampezzo (dpa) – After bearing her country’s flag at the opening ceremony, Anna-Lena Forster has given Germany a golden start to the Winter Paralympics Games in Italy. Forster triumphed in the downhill monoski downhill sitting event in Corina d’Ampezzo, five hundredths of a second ahead of Audrey Pascual Seco (Spain). After picking up silver in Beijing, this was Forster’s first gold medal in the downhill category at the age of 30.
In springlike temperatures and sunny conditions in the cross country arena in Tesoro, Germany also wasted no time in cheering three bronze medals in the biathlon. Less than an hour after Forster’s triumph in the downhill, Anja Wicker seized third place in the sitting sprint event. Her German teammate Marco Meier also celebrated winning bronze in the standing sprint class. The first day of the competition was closed out when Leonie Walter picked up another bronze along with her guide Christian Krasman in the vision impaired sprint biathlon.
