Power sprinting performance to the podium
By Carolynn Boomer, Team BC Mission Staff
What a huge day for the cross country and para nordic teams today! Women’s classic 1.4km sprints had all five racers, Hannah Mehain (Vernon), Katie Weaver (North Vancouver), Kasja Heyes (North Vancouver), Molly Miller (Kimberley) and Eliza Jane Kitchen (North Vancouver) qualify for the quarterfinals, with Weaver making it to the semi-finals. Weaver finished with a time of 0:04:01.35 in seventh, Miller came in at 0:04:04.60, placing ninth, and Heyes skied a 0:04:11.04, finishing 11th.
The men’s classic sprint was intense and crazy and also all five Team BC racers, Colin Ferrie (Kimberley), Julien Locke (Nelson), Geoffrey Richards (Rossland), David Palmer (Revelstoke) and Gareth Williams (Kelowna) qualify for the quarterfinals. Both Ferrie and Locke advanced to the semis and then again onto the finals. Both races were so awesome for the fans to watch, particularly Ferrie sprinting for the gold medal with a time of 0:03:29:57. Locke came fifth with a time 0:03:38:52.
“Amazing, everyone stepped up and overall we were really good,” said coach Maria Lundgren. “All athletes qualifying, 3 girls to the B final and 2 boys in the A final and Colin’s gold medal. Sprints are so exciting and it’s the hardest work for the athletes because its go, go, go. Not only for the athletes, but the wax technician are super busy too,” says Maria.
To continue the podium performance, the para nordic skiers couldn’t be outdone. Ethan Hess (Pemberton) won a bronze medal after racing three sprint heats in the PN men’s sit-ski 0.8km classic. Then for the women sit-ski 0.8km, it was Emily Suchy (Revelstoke), winning her second gold medal for the Games.
In the men’s PN standing race 1.2km classic, Andy Lin (Burnaby) won his second medal of the Games, this time silver. In the women’s PN standing 1.2km classic, also winning her second medal of the games, was Emily Weekes (North Vancouver) pushing for silver.
Para coach Tony Chin was extremely proud of his athletes today. For the entire Team BC, the five medal haul was brilliant!
See Canada Games live streaming at www.canadagamestv.ca and follow live updates on Twitter from @GoTeamBC with the hashtag #TBCXCSkiing.