Andrea Holmes

Last updated

Andrea Holmes (born 3 January 1982) [1] is a former Canadian Paralympic athlete, para-athlete in long jump, alpine ski, 100m run and high jump, and a Paralympic torchbearer.

Contents

History

Holmes wears a prosthetic on her left leg. She was born with fibular hemimelia and her parents chose to amputate her left foot, so that she could have a more active lifestyle. [2]

As an athlete, she represented Canada from 2002 to 2007, winning a bronze medal for long jump at the Para-Pan American Games in 2007. She was also part of the BC Para-Alpine ski team, [2] and placed third in 2008 in alpine. [3] [4]

She has been the Canadian long jump champion four times, the 100m champion three times and holds a Canadian record in high jump. [2]

She is the subject of Coni Martin's short documentary My Favourite Leg, which was shown at the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival and Langara College's Just Film Festival. [2] The film premiered at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City as part of the United Nations Enable Film Festival. [2] [5]

She was also a Paralympic torchbearer. [2]

Her coach was Victoria-based Ron Parker. [2]

Holmes completed a degree in International Business at the University of Victoria. [6] [1] After the 2010 Paralympics, Holmes retired from competition and became a banker, [2] having taken part in the RBC Olympian program. [7] She has a daughter. [2]

She has several prosthetic legs—for running, swimming, dress and everyday use. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpine Canada</span>

Alpine Canada is the national governing body for alpine ski racing, para-alpine and ski cross in Canada. Alpine Canada represents coaches, officials, supporters and athletes, including the racers of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team, Canadian Ski Cross Team and the Canadian Para-Alpine Ski Team. Alpine Canada is also involved in promoting participation within Canada's four million recreational skiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aimee Mullins</span> American athlete, actress, and fashion model

Aimee Mullins is an American athlete, actress, and public speaker. She was born with a medical condition that resulted in the amputation of both of her legs beneath the knee. She is the first amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in National Collegiate Athletic Association events, and competed in the Paralympics in 1996 in Atlanta. In 1999, she began modeling, and, in 2002, she began an acting career. She has periodically spoken at conferences, including TED Talks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Winter Paralympics torch relay</span>

The 2010 Winter Paralympics Torch Relay was a 10-day event leading up to the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver. It began on March 3, 2010, in Ottawa and concluded at the Games' opening ceremony on March 12. Held entirely within Canada, the host country, it has been described by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as "an important event to connect Canadians to the Games", by "demonstrating the fire inside each individual and how it inspires others".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Gallagher</span> 21st-century Australian skier

Jessica Gallagher is an Australian Paralympic alpine skier, track and field athlete, tandem cyclist and rower. She was Australia's second female Winter Paralympian, and the first Australian woman to win a medal at the Winter Paralympics at the 2010 Vancouver Games. She competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, where she won a bronze medal in the Women's Giant Slalom Visually Impaired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly Cartwright</span> Australian Paralympic athlete

Kelly Cartwright is an Australian athlete and powerlifter. She won two medals at the London 2012 Paralympics, and represented Australia in the Beijing 2008 Paralympics.

LW4 is a para-Alpine and para-Nordic standing skiing sport class defined by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for skiers who may have a disability in one lower extremity, which may be a result of a leg amputation below the knee, knee arthrodesis or a hip arthrodesis. For international skiing competitions, classification is done through IPC Alpine Skiing or IPC Nordic Skiing. A national federation such as Alpine Canada handles classification for domestic competitions.

Maya Nakanishi is a Paralympic athlete from Japan, competing in category T44 sprint and long jump events. She was born in Ōsaka, Ōsaka Prefecture, and played soft tennis competitively. In 2006 while working at a paint factory she was struck by a 5-tonne steel frame. Her right lower leg was amputated below the knee. After finding the transition back to tennis difficult she was encouraged to switch to track and field and quickly found success, setting Japanese records in the F44 category for the 100 and 200 meter events shortly after.

Karolina Wisniewska is a para-alpine standing skier. Born in Warsaw, she moved to Canada when she was 5 years old where she then took up skiing as a form of physical therapy for her cerebral palsy. Over the course of her skiing career, she won eight total Paralympic medals for skiing, and 18 medals at International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cups. At the 2002 Winter Paralympics, she earned four medals, the most ever earned by a Canadian para-alpine skier at a single Games. Wisniewska retired from the sport for a second time in May 2012 following an injury in 2011 that resulted in her missing most of the 2011/2012 skiing season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Pendergast</span> Australian F58 athletics shot put competitor (born 1991)

Victoria "Tori" Pendergast is an Australian F58 athletics shot put competitor and LW12.1 classified Para-alpine skier. When she competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, she became Australia's first female sit skier at the Winter Paralympics. She competed in two events, finishing seventh in women's slalom sit-ski and tenth in the women's giant slalom sit-ski. She also won a silver and a bronze medal in the slalom and super-G at the 2013 North America Cup, and a bronze medal in the giant slalom at the 2013 IPC World Cup in Thredbo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evan Strong</span> American Para-snowboard cross racer (born 1986)

Evan Strong is an American Para-snowboard cross racer who began his career in 2008. He is the gold medalist in para snowboard cross at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia and led the USA team to a sweep of the podium. He went on to represent Team USA in the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea and won a silver medal in the banked slalom event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joany Badenhorst</span> Australian Paralympian

Joany Badenhorst is a South African-born Australian Paralympian who was selected to compete in Para-snowboard cross at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi. She would have been the first female snowboarder to represent Australia at the Winter Paralympics, but was forced to withdraw from her event after injuring her left knee on the morning of the event. In February 2018, she was selected in the Australian team to compete at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.

Carl Murphy is a New Zealand Para-snowboard cross racer who competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erin Cleaver</span> Australian Paralympic athlete

Erin Cleaver is an Australian Paralympic athlete with cerebral palsy. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in athletics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Walsh (athlete)</span> Australian Paralympic athlete

Sarah Walsh is an Australian Paralympic amputee athlete. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in athletics.

Karen Brain is a Canadian Paralympic equestrian. She won two medals in the 2004 Summer Paralympics.

Greta Vardanyan is an Armenian powerlifter and Para-alpine skier. She has competed on four occasions for Armenia at the Paralympic Games, one Winter and three Summer. Vardanyan was the flag bearer on each occasion when she attended a Summer Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada at the 2018 Winter Paralympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Canada competed at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 18 March 2018. Canada sent a team of 55 athletes to compete in all six sports. The chef de mission was retired sledge hockey player Todd Nicholson, appointed in January 2017.

Alana Ramsay is a Canadian paralympic alpine skier, born in Calgary, Alberta. Ramsay, who was born with cerebral palsy due to a stroke at birth, started skiing at age 6. On the Para-Alpine World Cup circuit in 2015/16, she landed her first podium. In both 2016 and 2017, Ramsay was named Canadian Ski Racing Female Para Alpine Athlete of the Year. Ramsay has competed in 3 Paralympic games thus far, she won bronze medals at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Paralympics in both the Super G and Super Combined events. In the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics, Ramsay won two more bronze medals, in the Super Combined Standing and Super-G Standing events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fleur Jong</span> Dutch Paralympic athlete

Fleur Jong is a Dutch Paralympic athlete. She won the gold medal in the women's long jump T64 event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics held in Tokyo, Japan. She also set a new world record of 6.16 metres. As of May 2022, her current world record in this event is 6.23 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada at the 2022 Winter Paralympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Canada competed at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing, China which took place between 4–13 March 2022.

References

  1. 1 2 "Andrea Holmes". Paralympic.ca. Canadian Paralympic Committee . Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Paralympic Athlete Andrea Holmes Shows off her Favourite Leg at the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival". kccplaybook.org. 6 March 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  3. "CBC.ca - Canadian News Sports Entertainment Kids Docs Radio TV". cbc.ca. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  4. Mitchell, Andrew. "WASP race draws a crowd". piquenewsmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Langara College presents social issues at Just Film Festival". langaravoice.ca. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  6. "University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Media releases". uvic.ca. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  7. "RBC launches program for Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes - Article - investmentexecutive.com". investmentexecutive.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.