Day 2: Canada claims gold and bronze medals

– Kurt Oatway wins Canada’s second gold of the Games

– Alana Ramsay posts a bronze-medal performance in the Super-G 

– Canada remains unbeaten in Para ice hockey and wheelchair curling

The Canadian Paralympic team added to its medal count at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games on Sunday, making it six medals through two days of competition. This puts Canada in second place (tied with France and Ukraine) in total medal count. 

MEDAL CHART:
Gold – 2    Silver – 1    Bronze – 3    TOTAL – 6

TOP HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY: 
•    It was a golden day for Kurt Oatway (Calgary, AB), who finished atop the podium in the Super-G for his first Paralympic medal in his second Games. The 34-year-old won in the men’s sitting classification with a time of 1:25.83. 

“It’s hard to explain how good I feel right now. Yesterday’s downhill was a big disappointment for me. Coming back and winning the super-G is the best feeling ever. I went from feeling super low, to super high. It’s amazing.” – Kurt Oatway 

•    Alana Ramsay (Calgary, AB) brought home a bronze in the women’s Super-G standing race for her first Paralympic medal. The result shows the progress the 24-year-old has made since her first Games in Sochi, where she finished 10th in this event as a prospect skier. Finishing just off the podium behind Ramsay was Mollie Jepsen (West Vancouver, BC), already a bronze medallist here in the downhill. 

“It has been a long four years. Going to Sochi as a prospect was a little different. Now, coming here and having that experience behind me and finally getting on the podium, it really means a lot to me.” – Alana Ramsay 

•    In other Para alpine news, Alexis Guimond (Gatineau, QC) has just missed the podium in PeyongChang so far. He finished fourth in the Super-G in men’s standing, matching his result from the day prior in downhill. 

•    In Para nordic skiing, the long distance cross-country sit ski runs took place with Collin Cameron (Sudbury, ON) posting Canada’s best finish, fifth place in men’s 20KM sit skiing. This comes a day after Cameron won a bronze in biathlon. 

“It’s tough to go from biathlon to this event. It is a totally different mindset for pacing, a totally different game. I wasn’t even thinking about (winning a medal yesterday), I just wanted to build off it and take that momentum with me the rest of the week. Today was a different day and I’m happy with how I was able to perform.” – Collin Cameron 

•    On the ice, the Canadian Para ice hockey team was a force once again, defeating Italy by a score of 10-0. 2014 Sochi bronze medallist Ben Delaney (Ottawa) notched a hat trick, while James Dunn (Wallacetown, ON) and Liam Hickey (St. John’s, NL) each put two goals past the Italian net. Dunn is the youngest member of the team at 17 years old while Hickey is making his Winter Games debut after playing wheelchair basketball for Canada at Rio 2016.

“I’m trying not to be nervous or overly excited, I just want to go out there and play my game. It is fun and a bit overwhelming but it’s been an incredible experience so far.” – James Dunn

•    In wheelchair curling, Canada improved its record to 3-0, staying unbeaten through the first two days of play. The Canadian team came back from a 4-0 deficit after the first two ends to dish out an 8-4 win over Sweden. 

“We were hoping to be 2-1 at this point, so to be 3-0 is a great feeling. I think our team can be proud of what we’ve accomplished so far, but we’ve got a long way to go. We’re just on the third kilometre of the marathon right now. We’ve still got a way to go.” – Dennis Thiessen (Sanford, MB)