TORONTO - Canada’s Dream Team – the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games squad – has landed in airports across the country the past two days to wild cheers from its fans who witnessed a team record 28-medal performance and second spot in the nation standings in PyeongChang this month.
The Welcome Home events were hosted by CIBC and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
‘’Being met at the gate is always really nice,’’ triple gold medallist Para nordic skier Brian McKeever told the Calgary Herald where seven athletes landed in Alberta's largest city. "...Now that it’s over we get to enjoy it, get to reflect on it, to come home and meet with family and share it with them. That’s always a wonderful thing.’’
Canada’s flag bearer for the Closing Ceremony Mark Arendz was celebrated along with nine other athletes in Toronto at Pearson Airport. The Nordic skier was Canada’s most successful athlete with six medals including one gold.
‘’To be able to represent such a successful team was source of great pride for me,’’ Arendz told CTV News. ‘’I want people to take the message that you can achieve anything as long as you put the hard work in and believe in it.’’
In Vancouver, Para alpine skier Mollie Jepsen, a quadruple medallist at her first Games, is still trying to grasp the immensity of her performance. Six athletes were at the West Coast Welcome Home event.
"I don't think I've processed it fully," Jepsen told CBC. "It was insane to hear the crowd at the top of the run and crossing the finish line and seeing the flag flying."
