Ina Forrest (centre) in Bejing, China during the Paralympics.

Image Credit: Angela Burger - Canadian Paralympic Committee

A Spallumcheen woman who never participated in a Paralympics game without earning a medal has returned home with a shiny new bronze to add to her collection.

Ina Forrest, 59, returned from Beijing, China with her fourth Paralympic medal this week as part of Team Canada's wheelchair curlers.

After being away for five weeks, Forrest is glad to be home but “having success at the games certainly made it worth it,” she said.

“I think you’re always hoping to get the gold medal. We went into the game against China really wanting to win that game and they’re such a strong team, it’s not a surprise that they won… us curlers we’re kind of used to having two games a day, so you take it as it comes and go into the next game, so winning a bronze medal, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

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Team Canada defeated Slovakia 8-3 in the bronze medal finish March 4, after being defeated by China in the semifinals 9-5. The games wrapped up March 13.

Forrest is one of the world’s most decorated wheelchair curlers, according to the Paralympics. She was a member of Canada’s gold medal-winning team in 2010 and 2014 then added a bronze to her belt in 2018 in PyeongChang. She’s been inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 2016.

Despite her medals, she got into wheelchair curling later in life. Forrest was 21 when she was hit by a drunk driver that left her paralyzed.

She was an avid participant in sports prior to the accident and she still wanted back in the game, she said. When attempts with biathlon and swimming didn’t work out while juggling a family and business, as well as adjusting to the sport, she began curling in 2004.

“It’s a game you can play when you don’t really have to understand a whole lot of it to start with and then you slowly get to understand more and I don’t think you ever stop learning,” Forrest said.

This time around, she had to spend three weeks prior to travelling to Beijing in a COVID-19 bubble, she said. Fortunately, the bubble allowed the team to practice together, something they weren't able to do beforehand due to pandemic restrictions.

“For 18 months you're all training alone and there are three people who've been training together in Ontario so then you get together and they’ve practiced and learned techniques that you’re just kind of catching up on,” Forrest said. “It definitely is a bit of a barrier to being a team.”

The more practice they’ve had together, the better the team is. “I do probably believe that it was a bit of a detriment to us… there are dynamics and placing the broom for individual throwers and that can be done better if you can see each other,” Forrest said, adding that doesn’t necessarily mean it cost them a higher spot on the podium.

Forrest was grateful to see the coverage of the sport, as it allows others with disabilities to see what sports are available to them.

"For people in wheelchairs, there’s a lot of sports out there and if you don’t see them, you don’t realize all the different opportunities are,” Forrest said.

It’s a long road to the Paralympics, and Forrest said you need the right people and trainers to support you.

Sharon Morrisey has been her coach at home since she started her curling career and Forrest said she credits "what I’ve learned from that fact that I’ve had her helping me day since one."

As a flag bearer for Team Canada, she called the experience “fabulous” to showcase Canadian athletes.

READ MORE: North Okanagan's Ina Forrest one of Canada's Paralympic flag-bearers

“It was pretty fantastic to be chosen,” she said, adding she was told through a Zoom call outside that she was chosen to bear the flag, an unusual circumstance since the team learned someone had COVID-19 in the building they were staying in.

With three medals, Forrest wanted to ensure Canada was put back on the podium, but said her focus was set on the individual games.

As her three children are now fully grown, she said it’s gotten a lot easier to train at the Vernon Curling Club playing two games, practicing twice a week and adding strength training to the mix.

She’s not yet decided whether she wants to return to the Paralympics for the fifth time and is taking a break by spending time in her garden, away from the ice.

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