Sheina Vaspi () is an Israeli Paralympic alpine skier. She represented Israel at the

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), also known as XIII Paralympic Winter Games, commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), were an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China, from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter ...

held in Beijing, China in

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

. She is the first Israeli athlete ever to compete at the

Winter Paralympic Games The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. Th ...

Biography

Vaspi was born in

Yesud HaMa'ala Yesud HaMa'ala () is a moshava and local council in northern Israel. The moshava was the first modern Jewish community in the Hula Valley. Built in 1883, the community was among a series of agricultural settlements founded during the First Aliya ...

in northern

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, to a

Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

family. She is the granddaughter of Lieutenant Colonel Yoav Vaspi, who was killed in the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

. When she was three years old, she was seriously injured in a car accident and as a result, her left leg was amputated. As part of the rehabilitation process, Vaspi began skiing at the age of 16, with the Erez Foundation, under the auspices of The Israel Sports Association for the Disabled and the Israeli Paralympics Committee.

Career

The Erez Association and Sports Association for the Disabled supported her aspirations for competitive skiing. She subsequently moved to

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

in the United States for training, where she spent at least half the year. Vaspi's coach is Scott Olson, with whom she trains at the

National Sports Center for the Disabled The National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that began in 1970 providing ski lessons for children with amputations. Today, the NSCD is one of the largest therapeutic recreation organizations in the w ...

in Colorado. Vaspi does not compete on the

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

and competes wearing a skirt, in accordance with her family's religious observances.

Competitions in 2022

In January 2022, Vaspi competed internationally at the World Para Snow Sports Championships in

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

, Norway. She finished in 13th place in the

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...

event. She then participated in the final World Cup competition of the season in

Åre Åre () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,200 inhabitants in 2018. It is, however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpe ...

, Sweden.

Beijing Paralympic Games 2022

Vaspi is the first athlete to represent Israel at any winter Paralympics. She competed at the

in Beijing, China, in the

Alpine Skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

event

. The disability category is LW2 and as such, she competed upright on her right leg, with both hands holding a

ski pole Ski poles, also referred to as poles (in North America), sticks (UK), or stocks (Australia), are used by skiing, skiers for balance and propulsion. Modern ski poles are most commonly made from Aluminium, aluminum and Carbon fibers, carbon fiber, ...

. She was not able to compete in the women's slalom event after a change in schedule caused a conflict with

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaspi, Sheina Living people Paralympic alpine skiers for Israel Alpine skiers at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Jewish Israeli sportspeople Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidim Israeli female alpine skiers Year of birth missing (living people)