Canada's Hudak, Arendz each claim bronze in cross-country skiing at Milano-Cortina Paralympics
CBC
Canada's Mark Arendz collected his 14th career Paralympic medal while teammate Brittany Hudak earned her fourth in Wednesday's standing cross-country skiing races at Milano Cortina.
Both Canadians took bronze in their respective 10-kilometre interval start classic events at Tesero Cross-country Skiing Stadium in Val di Fiemme.
Arendz, 36, captured his second medal of these Games with a time of 27 minutes 59.3 seconds, crossing the finish line behind France's Karl Tabouret (27:10.7) and Belarus' Raman Svirydzenka (27:38.4).
The five-time Paralympian from Hartsville, P.E.I., won silver in the individual biathlon last Sunday.
"I was battling the conditions for sure and I'm kind of starting to feel the fact that this was the fourth race in five days but I am really happy," Arendz said.
Hudak, from Prince Albert, Sask., secured her spot on the podium with a time of 32:01.0, placing her behind American Sydney Peterson (29:49.2) and Norway's Vilde Nilsen (29:51.8).
It marks the first medal in Italy for the 32-year-old Hudak, a co-captain of Canada’s Paralympic delegation competing at her fourth Games. She has been battling the lingering effects of a knee injury for the past year and a half.
"It feels so good," Hudak said. "I was really happy with my races at the start of the Games and I really feel like my fitness is there, the technique is there. It's really just kind of putting together a good race.
"Today, the conditions were tough, but I really just tried to embrace that. I knew it was the same for everyone. To get a bronze medal here feels really great."
Emma Archibald of Fall River, N.S., finished sixth in 35:26.8.
The two medals inch Canada closer to the vaunted 200 total Winter Paralympic medal mark, as the country currently sits at 198 overall.
Canada has 10 medals through five days of competition in Italy — one gold, three silver, six bronze. The full medal table is available here.
Canada's nordic skiing team has now accounted for six medals, with three in cross-country and three in biathlon.
"It's a fantastic team and everybody has their role, their pieces, and we're just a lot of moving components, especially on a classic day with variable weather and conditions," Arendz said.
The Milano-Cortina Winter Paralympics officially opened Friday amid the tensions of war in the Middle East, and with some countries boycotting the opening ceremony because of the return of the Russian flag to the global sports stage.
Iran will not participate in the Milan Cortina Paralympics because its only athlete set to compete can't safely travel to Italy amid the intensifying Middle East conflict, the International Paralympic Committee said Friday.
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