Super Week for Paralympic champion Natalie Wilkie

Photos of Salmon Arm celebration HERE

OTTAWA – Natalie Wilkie was Canada’s most successful athlete at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in March, winning four medals (two gold, one silver and one bronze) in Para nordic skiing.

Last week, it was time to celebrate her achievements. The celebrations were fitting for one of Canada’s most successful Paralympians.

The 25-year-old travelled to Ottawa to join 141 fellow Olympians and Paralympians at the Team Canada Celebrations on Wednesday.

That included stops at Rideau Hall to meet the Governor General, a lunch gathering attended by the Prime Minister near Parliament Hill, and a recognition ceremony at the House of Commons

After being honoured alongside fellow Olympians and Paralympians in Ottawa, Wilkie returned home to another celebration.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 91.5 Summit FM (@summitradio915)

Then this past Saturday, her hometown of Salmon Arm, B.C., held a day in her honour.

“I was 17 when I went to my first Paralympics,’’ Wilkie told the Eagle Valley News.  ‘’I had lots of body image issues with having a disability, and going to the Paralympics made me really, really proud to be a Paralympian. “

“I could feel everyone’s support so loud and clear in Italy.’’

In Ottawa at the athlete reception on Parliament Hill, Wilkie has fond memories of Milano Cortina 2026.

‘’I’m proud our whole team delivered excellent performances,’’ she told CPC. ‘’I look back on the Games quite fondly. I had a good time, it was a good experience and I’m happy with how it went.’’

Wilkie lost four fingers on her left hand in a school workshop accident in 2016.

Already an accomplished cross-country skier before the accident, Wilkie made her Paralympic debut in 2018. The youngest member of Canada’s team, the one-pole skier won a gold, silver and bronze medal in women’s standing cross-country events

In 2022, she collected four more medals at the Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing with two gold, a silver and a bronze.

With 11 Paralympic medals across three Winter Games and the support of communities from Parliament Hill to Salmon Arm, Wilkie continues to be one of Canada’s most accomplished Paralympic athletes.