German great Gerd Schonfelder closed out his Paralympic career on a high Friday, winning the men's super-G (standing) title for his third gold medal of the Games to go with one silver. Through six Paralympic appearances, the downhill specialist has won 21 medals, including a record 15 gold medals. With his wife due to give birth to the couple's second child any day, the 39-year-old electronic technician said he was looking forward to going home, adding he had no regrets about his final Paralympic appearance. “I'm happy. Every race I win I'm happy. This last week has been a lot of mental pressure and it has been tough, but I have three gold medals and one silver, so I'm very happy,” he said. A top racer since the age of 10, Schonfelder's life changed at 19 when he lost his right arm above the elbow and some of his left hand. He says his accident changed his life somewhat “in a good way”. “My first Paralympics were in Albertville in 1992, which was totally different and it has gotten better and better since then. When they changed the rules in 2006 in Turin they changed it to a three-class system, so that meant there was more competition in my class. That was a big motivator for me.” Insisting he is not a legend, as he has been called so many times by his fellow competitors and the media, Schonfelder says he will compete maybe one more season, perhaps at next year's World Cup in Italy. Kano takes super-G gold Japan's Akira Kano Friday captured the Alpine skiing super-G (sitting) gold at the Paralympics for his second medal of the 2010 Games. The 24-year-old, who won the bronze in Thursday's downhill, won in a time of 1min 19.98sec with Germany's Martin Braxenthaler (1:20.63) taking silver and Japan's Taiki Morii (1:20.98) the bronze. France's Nicolas Berejny won the super-G (visually impaired) in a time of 1min 21.5sec, his country's first gold of the Games. Guided by Sophie Troc, 41-year-old Berejny finished ahead of Slovakian pair Jakub Krako (1:21.71) and Miroslav Haraus (1:22.75). In the women's events, Canada's Lauren Woolstencroft won her fourth career gold when she captured the super-G (sitting). The 28-year-old won in 1min 26.46sec with Italy's Melania Corradini (1:31.92) and Andrea Rothfuss of Germany (1:32.47) making up the podium. Woolstencroft, a native of Calgary, has now won seven medals in her career. Curler banned Sweden's wheelchair curling team won 6-5 against Italy in a tie-breaker Paralympics match Friday, but the victory was bittersweet after a team member was suspended for use of an illegal drug. Hours before the match Glenn Ikonen was told an earlier random drug test had detected a banned beta blocker, generally used to control high blood pressure, reported the Vancouver Sun. Ikonen told reporters his doctor had prescribed the medication in Sweden and he was unaware it was banned. He has the right to appeal his two-year suspension by the International Paralympic Committee. However, he will be forced to sit out Saturday's final matches.
