Podium sweep in para nordic

Ethan Hess (Pemberton) won the gold medal; Leo Samarelli (Vancouver) won the silver and Paul Finkbeiner (Vancouver) swept the podium in Para Nordic Sit Men event.

“That is what we were hoping for. Honestly, when we looked at the field and the athletes we were bringing forward we were pretty confident it would be one and two that we were going to be able to pull off. Paul pulled through and got the bronze, so I am really excited,” said Hess. “That is good for us going into these next races that we have gotten off to a great start. I’m very proud.”

Hess, who just raced at the world championship in Prince George last week, said he had high expectations of himself for this race and for the rest of this competitions for this week. He said the course was challenging for himself, who is use to racing longer distances.

“You try not to go full out on the first lap and then just give it everything else you have got left on the second. It’s hard,” said Hess. “We talked about the uphill finish at our Team BC meeting last night and this is one of the rare places you are going to see that much of an uphill at the end.”

Hess finished with a time of 9:43.00, Sammarelli’s time of 12:33.20 won him the silver medal and Paul Finkbeiner took bronze with a time of 13:44.50.