Paralympic wake-up call: Canada kickstarts Beijing Games with a medal of each colour
CBC
Canadian athletes wasted no time getting their hands on medals, collecting honours of all colours on Day one of competition at the Beijing 2022 Paralympics between Friday evening and Saturday morning.
Alpine skier Mollie Jepsen of West Vancouver, B.C., secured Canada's first gold medal by completing the women's standing downhill in one minute 21.75 seconds.
The 22-year-old capitalized on eight-time Paralympic gold medallist Marie Bochet of France not finishing the race, having lost one of her skis seconds into the event.
It was the dream start for Jepsen's second Paralympics, having claimed one gold, one silver and two bronze in PyeongChang 2018. Months after those Games, she was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, making a full recovery since.
WATCH l Jepsen captures gold for Canada's 1st Paralympics medal of Beijing 2022:
Two other decorated Canadian Paralympians made sure it wouldn't end with Jepsen's gold.
Mac Marcoux of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., collected his sixth medal over now three Games with a silver on the men's visually impaired downhill race.
The 22-year-old, who won the same event at PyeongChang 2018, posted a time of one minute 13.81 seconds in his first race in over two years.
The long break was caused by injuries and pandemic-related cancellations.
WATCH l Marcoux claims silver in downhill visually impaired:
Shortly after, Mark Arendz struck bronze in the men's Para biathlon 6-kilometre sprint standing event for his ninth overall Paralympic medal.
The 32-year-old Hartsville, P.E.I., native overcame two shooting penalties to finish with a time of 18 minutes 8 seconds.
Arendz kept his Paralympic momentum going from four years ago, having captured a medal in every event he competed in at PyeongChang 2018.
Read more about Jepsen's gold medal, as well as Marcoux's silver and Arendz's bronze.
Canadian Paralympic Committee CEO Karen O'Neill acknowledges the team’s showing at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games wasn't the same as past years.
Canadian Para alpine skier Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith capped their memorable Paralympic debut with bronze in the men's visually impaired slalom on Sunday at the Milano-Cortina Games.
Canadian skip Kerri Einarson looked up Saturday and saw real people, instead of cardboard cut-outs, in the stands at Calgary's WinSport Event Centre. She heard the roar of the crowd instead of the sound of flushing toilets piercing the silence.
Aaron Judge doubled and Pete Crow-Armstrong and Brice Turang each had two hits as the United States beat Canada 5-3 on Friday night in Houston to reach the World Baseball Classic semifinals.
Canada's Natalie Wilkie captured her second biathlon gold of the Milano-Cortina Paralympics on Friday, winning the women's standing sprint pursuit for her fourth medal in as many events.
Canada made wheelchair curling history on Thursday as the first team at any Paralympics to complete round-robin play without a loss.
The winningest men's ski cross racer in history added to his total on Thursday.
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.
Alphonso Davies covered his face with his shirt as he left the field with an injury in Bayern Munich's game against Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday in Bergamo, Italy, raising questions about the Canadian star's availability for the World Cup.
Canadian Para nordic skiing star Natalie Wilkie has now won a medal of every colour at the Milano-Cortina Paralympics, adding bronze in the women's standing sprint classic on Tuesday in Val di Fiemme.
This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Get up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here.
Canadian Para alpine skier Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith continued their impressive Paralympic debut on Monday by racing to bronze in the men's visually impaired super-G for their second medal.