Lena excels in Paralympics hockey

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea: Norway’s Lena Schroeder zips over the ice strapped onto a sledge, colliding with other players and taking shots — the only woman player in the toughest sport at the Winter Paralympics.

Unlike Olympic ice hockey, which has separate men’s and women’s teams, “sledge ice hockey” played at the Paralympics is technically mixed. But the 24-year-old is the first woman to compete in the discipline at the Games since 1994, and the only female player out of 135 at the Pyeongchang Paralympics in South Korea. Sledge ice hockey is the most fast and furious sport — and the most popular among spectators — at the Winter Paralympics.

Athletes who have lost full or partial use of their legs are strapped into small sledges with two blades on the bottom, and use two short sticks to push themselves across the ice and shoot. The sport can be just as violent as the able-bodied version. Vicious tackles and clashes on the ice are common, and participants are kitted out with heavy padding and helmets.

But Schroeder does not consider her gender a barrier to participation at the highest level. At a practice session Sunday, she happily zipped across the ice, her blonde hair flowing from the back of her helmet, passing the puck and taking shots.