Kris Vriend (born 23 June 1972) is a Canadian retired Paralympic track and field athlete who competed primarily in F35 classification throwing events.
Early life
Vriend attended Edmonton Christian High School in Edmonton, Alberta. On 3 December 1989, at age 17, she was involved in a motor vehicle accident while driving to church. She sustained a severe brain injury, spent approximately one month in a coma, and later underwent rehabilitation to relearn walking and speech. In 1993, Vriend's eligibility for Alberta's Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program became the subject of public attention after her benefits were terminated and subsequently reinstated before a scheduled appeal hearing.
Athletics career
Vriend began competing in para-athletics in the early 1990s. At the 1994 World Track and Field Championships for Athletes with a Disability in Berlin, she won the women's C6 shot put with a throw of 6.16 metres.
She represented Canada at the 1996 Summer Paralympics, winning a bronze medal in the discus throw. She subsequently competed in the 2000 Summer Paralympics, 2004 Summer Paralympics, and 2008 Summer Paralympics. At the 2002 IPC World Athletics Championships in Lille, France, Vriend won the shot put and finished second in the discus. By 2004, she held the world record in her shot put classification with a mark of 8.19 metres, set at the Parapan American Games in Argentina.
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