Monday, March 14, 2022
The Hasidic Israeli Alpine Skier Making History on One Leg – and in a Skirt
Sheina Vaspi sees herself as an ordinary 20-year-old who is enjoying life. But her life, particularly her athletic achievement, is far from routine. Last Friday, she became Israel's first athlete to compete in the Winter Paralympic Games, when she skied – on one leg – down the Olympic slopes (she ended up on 15th place).
Vaspi was three years old when she lost her left leg in a traffic accident. "I don't remember life with two legs," she tells Haaretz, speaking from the Paralympic Village in Beijing before her big event. "It's all I know and I'm happy with what I have."
She grew up in a Chabad Hasidic family in Yesud Hama'alah, a small community in northern Israel's Hula Valley. "I had an amazing childhood," she said. "More or less normal." After the accident in which Vaspi was injured, her family suffered another tragedy. When she was 7 her 18-month-old sister died. "But we're still five girls, even though she's not here."
Growing up in the Upper Galilee, one might think she engaged in winter sports from an early age. "I can see the snow [on Mount Hermon, in the Golan Heights] from my house, but I never knew what skiing was," she says, adding that she learned about the sport from a relative who volunteers with Erez, a nonprofit that was established to help disabled veterans to ski. "I was the organization's first girl," as she puts it.
"I connected with the idea and really loved the sport – the speed," she says about her first time on the slopes, at 15. "I really enjoyed it and caught on relatively quickly. It really wasn't that long ago. I really feel new at it, and I'm opening up to that world." Other children with disabilities soon followed. "It gives them so much and contributes to their faith in themselves and their self-confidence. It's amazing to observe."
Vaspi stresses that she would never have made it to Beijing without Erez, and is hopeful that she won't remain the only Israeli to compete in the Winter Paralympics.
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