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Canadian paralympians celebrate gold
(taken from the July 19, 2006 St. Albert Gazette)    

A local high school graduate has won another gold medal as part of Canada's wheelchair basketball team. Jennifer Krempien

Paul Kane graduate Jennifer Krempien played on the national team that battled the U.S. for gold at the Wheelchair Basketball championships held in Amsterdam, Netherlands over the weekend.

The Canadians defeated the Americans 58-50 in the gold medal game. Danielle Peers, also a former Paul Kane student who played with the Paul Kane Blues, scored 20 points for Canada in the final.

“The games we played were incredible with a complete team effort,” said Krempien. “It was very rewarding to play our best game for the final game when our best game was needed.”

The Canadians showed their grit and determination in the semi-final against Germany. Down by four points, the girls tied the game during the final minute of regulation before winning in double overtime.

The victory is the fourth world championship for the Canadian women.

Krempien, now 31, attend Paul Kane in the 1990s. She has won gold medals in five Paralympics games and stands as one of Canada’s most decorated disabled athletes. Her spinal chord injury was caused at the age of five, when she fell off a picnic table. Krempien currently trains in Vancouver and works as a clinical dietitian at the B.C. Children’s Hospital.

The Canadian men also won gold against the U.S. with a 59-41 victory.
 

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