Impairment Information |
Type of Impairment |
Limb deficiency |
Origin of Impairment |
Acquired |
Classification |
SB-LL1 |
Further Personal Information |
Other names |
Michelle Vrolyk |
Residence |
Cochrane, AB, CAN |
Occupation |
Athlete, Motivational Speaker, Real Estate Agent |
Languages |
English |
Sport Specific Information |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
She first tried snowboarding at age 13 at Rabbit Hill Snow Resort in Alberta, Canada. She took up Para snowboard after recovering from her accident. |
Why this sport? |
She first tried snowboarding on a school trip when her friend tried the sport but did not enjoy it and decided to swap her snowboard for Salt's skis. Three weeks after her accident, Canadian Para ice hockey player Greg Westlake visited her in hospital to give her advice on how to get involved in Paralympic competition. |
Club / Team |
Evolve Snowboard Club: Canada |
Name of coach |
Mark Fawcett [national], CAN |
Senior International Debut |
Year |
2013 |
Competing for |
Canada |
Tournament |
International Tournament |
Location |
United States |
General Interest |
Nicknames |
Michou ["It's a French nickname that my mum calls me."] (Athlete, 07 Mar 2018) |
Hobbies |
Snow biking, dirt biking, paddleboarding, boxing. (Athlete, 07 Mar 2018) |
Memorable sporting achievement |
Achieving her first World Cup podium finish by placing third in the SB-LL1 banked slalom in Big White, BC, Canada, in January 2015. (Athlete, 07 Mar 2018) |
Most influential person in career |
Coach Mark Fawcett. (Athlete, 07 Mar 2018) |
Hero / Idol |
Canadian athlete and cancer research activist Terry Fox. (Athlete, 07 Mar 2018) |
Injuries |
In 2017 she sustained bone bruising which took eight months to heal. (Athlete, 07 Mar 2018)
In 2014 she suffered a knee injury and took one year to fully recover. (Athlete, 07 Mar 2018) |
Sporting philosophy / motto |
"When you feel the worst and you try your hardest, you gain the most." (Athlete, 07 Mar 2018) |
Other sports |
She participated in national fitness competitions in Canada before and after her accident. She has also competed in Para cycling at national level. (insidefitnessmag.com, 29 Mar 2015; yobeat.com, 15 Mar 2017; Athlete, 07 Mar 2018) |
Milestones |
In 2014 she became the first female athlete representing Canada to compete in snowboard at the Paralympic Winter Games when the sport made its debut in Sochi. (SportsDeskOnline, 14 Mar 2014) |
Ambitions |
To become a dual-sport Paralympian. (Athlete, 07 Mar 2018) |
Impairment |
In June 2011 she lost control of her motorcycle and crashed, hitting a guardrail twice. Her injuries included breaking her pelvis, hips, L4 and L5 vertebrae and clavicle, puncturing a lung and bruising her spleen. Her right femur severed an artery which almost led her to bleed to death. She was on life support for seven days and underwent five operations, one of which was to amputate her right leg eight inches above the knee. (insidefitnessmag.com, 29 Mar 2015; Athlete, 07 Mar 2018) |
Other information |
OCCUPATION
She returned to work five months after the amputation of her leg, and soon after she became a licensed real estate agent. "I have to work to support myself, but I think real estate and sport go hand in hand. I've learned to turn stress into something positive. Both sport and work have allowed me to do that with one another. It's definitely not easy to manage work and training. But when you're passionate about something, you learn to balance." (zolo.ca, 18 Jul 2018)
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Since 2014 she has served as an athlete mentor for Classroom Champions, a non-profit organisation that uses Olympic and Paralympic athletes as role models to help children set goals and improve digital literacy. (Athlete, 07 Mar 2018; classroomchampions.org, 2016) |
World Championships |
| Rank |
Year |
Event |
Result |
| 4 |
2014/2015 |
Snowboard Cross - Lower Limb 1 Impaired |
|
| 4 |
2014/2015 |
Banked Slalom - Lower Limb 1 Impaired |
1:52.97 |
| 4 |
2016/2017 |
Snowboard Cross - Lower Limb 1 Impaired |
|
| |
2016/2017 |
Banked Slalom - Lower Limb 1 Impaired |
DNS |
Paralympic Games |
| Rank |
Year |
Event |
Result |
| 9 |
2014 |
Snowboardcross - Standing |
3:21.28 |
| 4 |
2018 |
Snowboard Cross - Lower Limb 1 Impaired |
|
| 5 |
2018 |
Banked Slalom - Lower Limb 1 Impaired |
1:07.69 |
World Cup Finals |
| Rank |
Year |
Event |
Result |
| |
2015/2016 |
Snowboard Cross - Lower Limb 1 Impaired |
DNS |
| 2 |
2015/2016 |
Snowboard Cross - Lower Limb 1 Impaired |
|
| 2 |
2015/2016 |
Banked Slalom - Lower Limb 1 Impaired |
1:12.85 |
| 3 |
2017/2018 |
Snowboard Cross - Lower Limb 1 Impaired |
1:29.09 |
| 4 |
2017/2018 |
Banked Slalom - Lower Limb 1 Impaired |
1:51.63 |
