By Brandie Majeau
Smoky Lake native Derek Zaplotinsky celebrated a monumental win after
spending nearly ten years on the Para Nordic national team. On March 14, 2024,
Zaplotinsky competed at the World Cup Final and succeeded in winning the gold medal
in the men’s sitting five-kilometer cross country race. His triumph was preceded in
January, receiving bronze in the cross country 10 kilometer individual and 10-kilometer
mass start during the opening World Cup.
Derek Zaplotinsky’s previous achievements include 5 top-ten placements during
the 2021-22 World Cup in Canmore, 2 top-5 finishes in the 2019 World Para Nordic
Championships in Prince George, BC, and 2 top-10 finishes in his 2018 debut at the
Paralympic Winter Games. Zaplotinsky’s paralympic career began in 2015 and saw him
competing in the World champions, placing twelfth in the cross country fifteen kilometer.
After an accident in 2006, where Zaplotinsky was left paralyzed from the waist
down during a motocross race where another dirt bike landed on him, he returned to the
sport four years later first as a Para Cyclist and later becoming a cross country skier.
The physical and mental dedication are unsurpassed as an athlete, the emotional
commitment presses Zaplotinsky forward as he made his way to the top of the podium.
Completing the race in 12 minutes and 59.7 seconds, Zaplotinsky beat the
previous 2022 Paralympic Champion, Mengtao Liu, who came in second at 13 minutes
and 4.7 seconds. Critian Ribera placed third at 13 minutes and 7.3 seconds. The
victory was an emotional triumphal moment, resulting in a wash of emotion after
achieving what he worked so hard to accomplish, so many years of training and
conditioning and endurance, finally cumulating in the split second it took to cross the
finish line.
“It was very special to get my first win at home in Canada in front of family.” commented
Zaplotinsky.
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