Following a two-year layoff due to injuries, Rossland’s Kimberly Joines is back.
The Paralympic sit-skier made a golden return to the World Cup and NorAm circuit in December, after a hip injury forced her from competition just prior to the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics.
Since returning, she has won an incredible 14 medals on the International Parlalympic circuit, including a gold-medal performance at her first competition in nearly two years.
Despite an excellent career that includes a bronze medal at the Paralympic Games in Italy in 2006, the 30-year old has faced a litany of injuries and equipment problems that plagued her in 2010. The tough season and disappointment of missing the Vancouver Games was not how she wanted to leave the sport.
“It didn’t end the way I would have wanted it to,” said Joines. “My last really good year was ’08 and then we switched up my equipment as a way of getting back for 2010.”
After winning virtually every World Cup and NorAm race in ’08, a new sit-ski chair had a negative affect on her performance and resulted in many more spills and injuries. But rather than let the setbacks keep her down, Joines has risen time and time again.
In her first race back at Copper Mountain, U.S.A, on Dec. 14, the Edmonton native raced to a bronze medal. She followed that up the next day by taking gold in the combined ski, defeating long-time rival Laurie Stephens of the U.S.
“I wanted to put in a good amount of time into the sit-ski to get back to the point where I’m back getting results, and back at the top of my game, because I’d rather end on that type of note.”
Joines spent most of 2011 training and making adjustments to her equipment until she was comfortable and confident.
“Once you get through an entire (year) without an injury, it doesn’t seem like it’s that crazy to continue doing what you do.”
Joines won five gold medals and two silver medals at World Cup events in 2011-12, including taking overall runner-up in the giant slalom. She added six NorAm golds and a bronze to the total and finished the season last month with a stunning come-from-behind gold medal performance in the super-combined at the World Cup Finals in Panorama.
Sitting in third, 4.06 seconds back of first-place Alana Nichols, Joines laid down a brilliant second run beating the American by over six seconds to claim the gold in the combined race.
“Super happy for Kim,” coach Sven Pouliot told Alpine Canada after the race. “She had a decent run in super-G and definitely showed how strong she can be in slalom . . . You can see she’s very confident now.”
Injuries are common for sit-skiers who reach speeds of up to100-kph, with gates bouncing off their faces at every turn on a slalom run.
“I’ll end up with all sorts of bruises, we have a chin-bar but it will smush right down on your face on the second gate,” said Joines. “Getting hit in the face and not letting it disturb you is the change that I made this year, finally.”
With her success, the dynamic Rossland racer will continue to compete, her sites set on Sochi, Russia for the Paralympics in 2014.
“I definitely want one more Games,” said Joines. “Whistler really didn’t happen for me, it was pretty disappointing not to go there, so Russia’s a new place on the list and I’m pretty excited to get another Games in – then we’ll see.”
Joines previously won World Cup Crystal Globes in giant slalom, super-G and slalom, as well as an overall Crystal Globe in 2008.
