Kristina was born on the 4th of December 1976 and joined the Pacers in 1987.
She started skating as a Juvenile and went to the Nationals in her first
year at the age of 12. Kristina is the first Pacer to mount the
Olympic Podium which she did at Turin in 2006. Her history as a
Canadian National Team athlete can be seen at
www.speedskating.ca, which
summarizes her accomplishments as follows.
-
Olympic silver medallist in 1500m and team
pursuit in 2006
-
Third overall at the 2006 World Championships;
500m - 2nd, 1500m and 3000m - 3rd
-
National Gold in the 1000m at the 2006
Canadian Single Distances Championships
-
Ranked 3rd in 3000m and 5000m on World Cup
Circuit in 2005-2006
-
Ranked 2nd in Canada on 1000m, 1500m and
3000m in 2005-2006
-
Bronze medallist in the 3000m at the 2005
World Single Distances Championships
-
Silver medallist in team pursuit at the 2005
World Single Distances Championships
-
Placed 3rd overall at the 2005 Continental
Championships
-
Earned her first career individual World Cup
medal - Gold in the 3000m in Hamar, Norway in 2004
-
1st at the 2004 Continental Qualifier
-
2nd at the 2004 Canadian All Round
Championship
Kristina started speed skating with the Pacers at the age of 11 and still
continues in world competition twenty years later. She does not see
this as dedication so much as just doing something she really enjoys.
There is life outside of skating however. She graduated from the
University of Calgary in June 2004 in Kinesiology and in her spare time does
Telemark Skiing, hiking, woodworking, reading, gardening and playing guitar.
She also found time to win a Silver medal in the 500m at the Alberta track
cycling championships.
To
date Kristina's personal best times in long track skating are; 500m -
38.75; 1000m - 1:14.99; 1500m - 1:54.48; 3000m - 3:59.48; 5000m - 6:54.55. |
