(Alpine Canada) The strong week of speed racing continued for Canadians in Saalbach-Hinterglemm on Saturday, with two Canadian Para alpine ski team athletes claiming hardware on the Austrian slopes.
After back-to-back fourth-place finishes, Alexis Guimond (Gatineau, QC) skied to the bronze medal in the men’s standing super-G, while Kurt Oatway (Calgary, AB) claimed the same finish in the men’s sitting race.
Guimond finished with a time of 1:14.86, while Oatway clocked in at 1:16.34.
“I’m happy with my approach today. I just wanted to go out there and make the most out of this race series. After a couple of wooden spoons, I wanted to close the speed series with intention and some hardware,” Guimond said post-race. “I put down a solid run with some decent skiing. It was a solid effort. Happy to be back on the podium.”
For Oatway, finishing the race series with a podium is nearly a dream after coming back from two years of COVID-impacted ski seasons and battling an illness coming into the Austrian races. In the opening downhill, he finished fourth after taking a bobble on the final jump.
Midway through this season, the 38-year-old and 2018 Paralympic super-G champion also switched his sitski.
“This race series was long and fraught with many troubles,” Oatway said. “Coming back from two years of COVID and a season ending injury last year along with switching sit skis hasn't been easy, and while hitting the podium today felt good, there is a lot of room for improvement not only this year but in the seasons to come.”
Frédérique Turgeon of Candiac, Que., won Canada’s other two medals in Austria with gold and silver in the downhill races on Wednesday and Thursday.
