ÖSTERSUND, Sweden – With a mighty roar Canada's Mark Arendz crossed the finish line Saturday (Jan. 28) celebrating a third gold medal at the 2023 Para Nordic Skiing World Championships, while Canucks Natalie Wilkie and Collin Cameron claimed silver medals.
The 32-year-old champion Arendz capped off a big week overseas by winning the men's 10-kilometre standing cross-country race in Östersund, Sweden.
The towering Canadian commanded the race and opened up a huge, near one-minute lead at the 7.5-km mark and finished 47.3 seconds ahead of silver medallist Withold Skupien of Poland.
"That feels really special," said Arendz in a video interview after the race. "I’ve always been kind of specializing in biathlon for years, since my career started, and I’ve always been consistent – competitive in the cross-country, but this is the first world championship cross-country medal for myself and that's pretty special."
One of the greats in Canadian Paralympic history, Arendz has dominated at the world championships and also won gold medals in the 10-km and 12.5-km biathlon races and silver in biathlon sprint. He's been on the podium 19 times at world championships.
Three more medals!!!
— Kate Boyd (@Kate_Boyd5) January 28, 2023
Cross Country 10km
🥇Mark Arendz
🥈Natalie Wilkie
🥈Collin Cameron@NordiqCanada @CDNParalympics pic.twitter.com/bHvjrMmCCR
Another Canadian having a huge world championship is Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm, B.C. who won silver – a fourth medal – in the women's standing.
In fourth place at the 7.5-km mark, the 22-year-old skier turned it up a notch and powered in front of USA's Sydney Peterson and Ukraine's Liudmyla Liashenko to snatch away the medal from rivals and claim it for the north.
Canada's Brittany Hudak finished sixth.
In the men's sitting, Cameron secured silver and his third medal of the competition, including gold in the men's biathlon sprint.
Canadian Derek Zaplotinsky was ninth.
In the women's sitting, Christina Picton finished fifth. A day prior, the Canadian two-sport star had one of the biggest moments of her career and won bronze in the 12.5-km biathlon.
Canada has won 16 medals (seven gold, six silver, three bronze), which breaks the national record for most medals won and most medal winners (five) at a Para Nordic Skiing World Championships.
Sunday is the final day of the world championships with the open and mixed relays on the agenda.
