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Curling Paralympian By: Janelle LoBello Name: Jacqui Kapinowski Four months to the day after she began learning the sport of curling, Jacqui Kapinowski won her first Paralympic Bronze medal in wheelchair curling -- the first ever medal in the event for the USA. A year later in 2009, the team placed fourth.
"We're hungry this year," says Kapinowski. "Placing fourth made us hungrier!" Similar to shuffleboard, wheelchair curling consists of one tournament where players take turns pushing stones down a sheet of ice towards a series of circles. The team with the most points, or stones, closest to the center circle wins. Kapinowski, now 47, is one of the five members, and the only female, on the 2010 USA wheelchair curling Paralympic team. "I like being the only female," laughs Kapinowski. Kapinowski has been in a wheelchair for seven years since being diagnosed with the rare disorder Stiff Person Syndrome. Defined by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, "Stiff-person syndrome (SPS) is a rare neurological disorder with features of an autoimmune disease. SPS is characterized by fluctuating muscle rigidity in the trunk and limbs and a heightened sensitivity to stimuli such as noise, touch, and emotional distress, which can set off muscle spasms." Though she now has to rely on her wheelchair, Kapinowski does not let it slow her down. "I was always into sports," says Kapinowski, who is also married with two children. "I was always a runner. I used to run 7-10 miles everyday no matter what the weather was." Since being in a wheelchair, Kapinowski taught herself how to wheelchair race. She has completed 52 marathons; including the Boston, New York City, and Marine Corps marathons, half marathons, four triathlons, and countless other smaller races over the years prior to and after living in a wheelchair. "I fell in love with curling since the first time I threw a stone," explains Kapinowski, who trains in Madison, Wisconsin; Utica, New York; and Plainfield, New Jersey. "I don't take it lightly and I train hard." Curling offers something different than racing for Kapinowski. "Racing pushes my heart to get a better time than the last race. Curling makes my brain work constantly. It's about strategy. Focusing on shots, trying to outscore the other team, reading the ice before them." |
