B.C.’s Natalie Wilkie takes home Canada’s 1st gold at Winter Paralympics
Global News
It's Natalie Wilkie's fourth career Paralympic gold medal for the Canadian flag-bearer and her ninth Paralympic medal overall. She also won a silver on Saturday.
Natalie Wilkie won Canada’s first gold medal at the Milan Cortina Paralympics on Sunday with a first-place finish in the women’s standing para-biathlon competition.
Wilkie, from Salmon Arm, B.C., finished in 33 minutes 1.8 seconds, more than a half-minute ahead of China’s Zhao Zhiqing (33:33.5). Ukraine’s Oleksandra Kononova took bronze in 33:37.9.
It’s the fourth career Paralympic gold medal for the Canadian flag-bearer and her ninth Paralympic medal overall. She won silver in the women’s standing sprint on Saturday.
“This is pretty unreal,” Wilkie said. “Silver was pretty awesome yesterday, but the gold today is even better. It all came together today. It’s just a race like any other race, but when you add in the crowds and everything that goes along with the Paralympic Games, it all just feels like such a bigger event.
“But I do feel like I’ve had enough exposure at events like this that I was able to still lock in.”
Also Sunday, Mark Arendz of Hartsville, P.E.I., claimed silver in the men’s race for his 13th career Paralympic medal. China’s Jiayun Cai won gold and Germany’s Marco Maier earned bronze.
“Hearing the split halfway through the race that I was only in 10th place, that’s not something I’m used to,” Arendz said. “But it’s also something I can go to the back pocket and pull out, knowing I’ve been here before and using that experience to just keep pushing.
“I know I can outski a lot of the guys over the distance and keep my head in the game on the range, and that’s what really helped.”
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It's Natalie Wilkie's fourth career Paralympic gold medal for the Canadian flag-bearer and her ninth Paralympic medal overall. She also won a silver on Saturday.
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