(photo Alpine Canada)
LILLEHAMMER, Norway – Mollie Jepsen continued to show she is on track for another productive Paralympic Winter Games as she emerged with the silver medal in the women’s standing Super G on Saturday at the World Para Snow Sports Championships.
It was Jepsen’s second medal of the competition after a bronze in the downhill, and a seventh overall for Canada (three silver and four bronze) after four medals in Para snowboard and two in alpine on Friday.
Varvara Voronchikhina of the Russian Paralympic Committee won the Super G race in one minute and 11.23 seconds. The 22-year-old Jepsen from Vancouver followed in 1:11.68 and eight-time Paralympic Games champion Maria Bochet of France was third in 1:11.80.
In her Paralympic Games debut in 2018 at age 18, Jepsen won four medals including one gold. However she has battled illness and injuries since then including Crohn’s disease.
Jepsen, born missing fingers on her left hand, has regained top form this season with six medals in six races on the World Cup circuit heading into the worlds. She is one of Canada’s top medal hopefuls for the Paralympic Winter Games March 4-13 in Beijing.
It was a tough day for the other Canadian Para alpine skiers Saturday. In that same women’s standing Super G, Alana Ramsay of Calgary, Frédérique Turgeon of Candiac, Que., and Michaela Gosselin of Collingwood, Ont. all did not finish.
It was the same result for Katie Combaluzier of Toronto in the women’s sitting, Alexis Guimond of Gatineau, Que. in the men’s standing and Brian Rowland of Merrickville, Ont. in men’s sitting.
The competition also features Para nordic skiing (cross country and biathlon) but the Canadian Para nordic team has decided to skip the event and pursue their training at home.
Competition continues Monday in Para alpine with the super combined races.
For more information, please visit the event’s official website at Paralympic.org/lillehammer-2021.
Live streaming of the competition is available via the International Paralympic Committee’s YouTube channel.
