The medals came early and often over the nine thrilling days of competition at the Beijing 2022 Paralympics. Canada’s 25 total medals are the second-most at a Winter Paralympics in its history. More impressively, Team Canada showed its strength and, at times, dominance in winter sports, being one of only two nations to win a medal in all five Paralympic sports. Of those 25 medals, 6 were won by BC Games or Team BC alumni – athletes who hail from BC and gained multi-sport games experience during their development:
Mollie Jepsen captured Canada’s first medal of Beijing 2022, taking gold in Women’s Standing Downhill Para Alpine Skiing on day one of the Games. She followed up that performance with a sixth-place finish in Standing Super-G, before collecting her second medal – silver in the Women’s Standing Giant Slalom, an upgrade on the medal she won in the same event four years ago. On the last day of competition, the six-time Paralympic medalist was selected to lead Canada’s athlete contingent into the Closing Ceremony of the Games as the country’s Flag Bearer.
Natalie Wilkie took the Games by storm, building off an impressive three-medal debut at PyeongChang 2018 to capture an incredible four medals at these Games. The first came on day three, claiming gold in the Women’s Standing 15km Classic Para Nordic Skiing race. Wilkie added to her total just two days later, with another gold, this time in the Standing Cross-Country Sprint. She followed her two golden performances with a strong race in the Middle Distance, earning silver, and finally, a bronze in the Mixed 4x2.5km Para Nordic Skiing relay.
Emily Young had a pair of strong showings, finishing in fifth and seventh place in the 15km and 6km Biathlon events, respectively, before cracking the podium in Beijing. In her last event of the Games, Young teamed up with Wilkie, as well as Collin Cameron and Mark Arendz, to claim bronze in the Mixed 4x2.5km Para Nordic Skiing relay, raising her career total to three medals.
Beyond the podium finishes, other BC Games and Team BC had memorable performance at these Games:
Logan Leach and Guide Julien Piete put together three top 10 Para Alpine Skiing finishes in their Paralympic debut. Leach and Piete steadily improved as the Games went on, starting their campaign with a ninth-place finish in Men’s Downhill Vision Impaired, followed by seventh place in the Super-G, sixth place in the Super Combined, and finally, narrowly missing the podium in Slalom with a fifth-place finish.
Ethan Hess continued to build on his experience from PyeongChang 2018, finishing in the top 30 in three Para Nordic Skiing events – the Men’s Sitting 18km Long Distance, Sprint, and 10km races.
Josh Dueck, a Paralympic Hall of Famer and three-time Paralympic medalist, tasked with imparting wisdom and supporting Canada’s athletes as the Chef de Mission, was elected to the International Paralympic Committee Athletes’ Commission on a four-year term.
Click here to see the complete list of BC Games alumni at Beijing 2022.
Click here to see the complete list of Team BC alumni at Beijing 2022.