FINLAND – Halfway through the season-opening Para Nordic Ski world cup and Team Canada is 15 medals deep and looking for more in preparation for the biggest event of the season.
The sun finally peeked out from behind grey clouds on Wednesday (Dec. 14) in Vuokatti, Finland, following the final cross-country event where the Canadians added four more medals to their haul (three gold, eight silver, four bronze).
Leading the way are Paralympians Natalie Wilkie, Collin Cameron, and Christina Picton with 10 medals.
Three-time Paralympian Brittany Hudak and Lyne-Marie Bilodeau claimed two bronze medals each in women’s standing and sitting events, respectively, while Mark Arendz, winner of 12 Paralympic medals, won gold in men’s standing individual biathlon.
A milestone moment for Picton, her three silvers in sitting individual biathlon and the sprint and 5-kilometre are her first world cup medals. However, with the absence of the big dog USA team, the 29-year-old said there’s still more work to put in to earn podiums among a full women’s field.
“While I’m excited to be snagging medals for Canada, this experience in Vuokatti isn’t all about the final race results,” said Picton in an email. “I’ve been focusing on my race plans and executing the technical skiing skills that I’ve been working very hard on over the summer.”
The world cup is Picton’s first major event testing out new equipment – transitioning from sitting to kneeling – to optimize efficiency.
“Now it’ll be about honing in on more technical gains and continuing to improve my race fitness for the rest of the season,” said the 2022 Paralympian. “Finland has been a great test of my race shape and it’s given me clear goals to work towards for Sweden.”
Voukatti has always proved to be great racing for Cameron, who also won gold in his specialty, the sprint, the last time he competed there.
“I love the sprint race, so I hope to keep being competitive in this race and have my eyes set on another good one in January at worlds,” Cameron said, in an email.
As Team Canada stacks up all the medal colours, the real test this season will be at 2023 world championships in Östersund, Sweden from Jan. 21-29. The top competition of the season is where the focus is for the elite Canadians in more than one way.
“These races are all part of the training plan in preparation for world championships next month,” said Cameron, a six-time Winter Paralympics medallist.
“I think the biggest thing we hope to get from results at worlds is exposure. Not just for myself, but for my whole sport. Our regular World Cup events are never televised, rarely even streamable online. Worlds offer a rare chance for all of us to be able to showcase what we do to the world. We definitely don’t get TV time like the Paralympics, but even just having a live stream available online is a huge step in the right direction for the exposure we need in our sport.”
The world cup in Voukatti resumes Friday (Dec. 16) with three biathlon events remaining.
