Team BC earns 41 medals during week one of the Canada Winter Games

Week one has come to a close with a very successful performance from Team BC.  With 41 medals, Team BC sits third in the medal count, three behind Ontario and two ahead of Alberta.  Quebec leads the medal standings with 83 medals.

“Team BC athletes are off to an amazing start and were certainly fueled by the hometown support of family, friends, and local fans,” said Rob Needham, Team BC Chef de Mission.  “We are looking forward to week two to continue to build on the momentum for more podium finishes.”

The alpine skiing team earned eight medals through the week including a silver for Kristina Natalenko (New Westminster) in giant slalom and four medals  in the ski cross event . Para alpine contributed another three with gold and silver for Mel Pembel (Victoria) and a silver for Mark Robertson (North Vancouver).  Solid races by the rest of the team lead to multiple top ten finishes.

Northern athletes Tony Proctor (Prince George) and Emerie Watson (Quesnel) combined for a bronze medal in the archery mixed team event.  
Rising star Emily Dickson (Burns Lake) wowed the hometown crowd at biathlon earning three individual medals (gold, silver, and bronze) and combined with her teammates for a
gold in the relay event.

The all star men’s curling team led by skip Tyler Tardi (Surrey)  suffered a tough semi final loss but rebounded to win the bronze medal .

Freestyle skiers kicked off the week in style with double golds from Teal Harle (Whistler) and Elena Gaskell (Vernon) in slopestyle and big air along with sliver from Patrick Dew (Coldstream) and two bronze for Sofinae Gagnon (Whistler).

The men’s and women’s gymnastics teams had solid performances both earning team bronze medals and then Aaron Mah (Vancouver) and Shallon Olsen (Surrey) combined for six medals including a silver for Olsen in the All Around.

The women’s hockey team had two wins and four losses with a final placing of sixth.  Sarah Potomack (Aldergrove) was the team’s top scorer of the tournament with four goals and three assists.

Ringette brought incredible team spirit and a loud cheering section as they battled on the ice at the Colliseum.  With some very close games, the team ended up in sixth for the tournament.

The long track speed skaters started the week in Prince George on the outdoor oval but with warm temperatures, the competition was moved to Fort St. John.  Nine medals were earned with six of those from Sara Spence (Kamloops).  The short track speed skating team gained valuable experience with two sixth place finishes for Allison Desmarais (Vanderhoof) and a fouth place finish for the men’s 3000m relay.

In target shooting Leia Hoot (Kamloops) earned silver and Jessica Auton (Langley) earned bronze.  Brian Ng (Langley) and Dakota O’Donnovan earned a team bronze.

Week two competition gets underway on February 21 with Team BC men’s hockey taking on New Brunswick at 7:30pm and preliminary action in Squash starting at 6:30pm.

Full results including medal standings, medals and placing can be found online.

Photos from all week one sports are available in Team BC’s Flickr galleries. https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_bc/sets/