Karolina Wisniewska receives King Charles III Coronation Medal

OTTAWA – Karolina Wisniewska, Canada’s co-chef de mission at the 2024 Paralympic Games and 2023 Parapan American Games, was one of 52 Canadians to receive a King Charles III Coronation Medal on February 20.

The Coronation Medal program was created to mark the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.

It recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to a particular province, territory, region or community in Canada, or attained an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to the country.

The Governor General is one of many nominators across Canada. In total, the medal will be presented to 30,000 deserving individuals around the Commonwealth.

“I was honoured and humbled to receive The King Charles III Coronation Medal alongside 51 other exceptional Canadians,” Wisniewska wrote on her LinkedIn page. “It was such a moving and meaningful ceremony and the day, it is still sinking in.”

Wisniewska received her medal in the Diversity and Inclusion category with 11 other recipients including Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer.

“Karolina is an eight-time Para alpine skiing medallist, a mentor to other athletes and a public speaker whose compelling story of resilience inspires Canadians,” the Governor General of Canada office wrote on its webpage.

Wisniewska (who grew up in Calgary but now lives in Montreal) is a three-time Paralympian and winner of eight Paralympic medals in Para alpine skiing.

She won two silver medals in Nagano in 1998, two silver and two bronze medals in Salt Lake City in 2002, and two bronze at Vancouver 2010.

Wisniewska’s four medals at the Salt Lake City 2002 Paralympic Winter Games set a new record at the time as the first Canadian winter sport athlete to win four medals at a single Olympic or Paralympic Games.

As co-chef de mission with Josh Vander Vies in Paris, Wisniewska says the 2024 Games reached new milestones for the Paralympic Movement.

“They were extraordinary Games,’’ she told CPC at the Team Canada Celebration in Ottawa last December. “They were beyond anything we could hope for.

“The engagement of the population, the packed stadiums, and to top it off, a brilliant performance for a Canadian team that was united, positive and performant with 29 medals.”