Team BC had resounding success at the 2019 Canada Winter Games bringing home 87 medals – including a record-setting 30 gold medals. Team BC was fourth in the medal count and behind Team Quebec, Team Ontario, and host Team Alberta.
The unprecedented success is certainly attributable to our strong provincial sport system and the work of Provincial Sport Organizations to provide high level coaching and competitive opportunities.
The BC Winter and BC Summer Games are also an important part of the development of athletes and are the first step for many to experience a multi-sport Games environment and where they find the drive and motivation to take their sport further.
Over 55 percent Team BC was made up of BC Games alumni including 141 athletes who drew upon their past provincial Games experience and applied it on the national stage where they won or contributed to 51 of Team BC’s 87 medals.
Remi and Jasmine Drolet, siblings from Rossland, combined for five gold medals in Cross Country Skiing at the Canada Games. Remi competed at the 2014 BC Winter Games where he won two golds and sister, Jasmine competed at the 2016 BC Winter Games where she won a bronze medal. Benita Peiffer from Whistler also contributed two silver medals to go with her silver and bronze from the 2014 BC Winter Games.
Para cross country skiers swept the podium in all events including three gold each from BC Games alumni Ethan Hess (Pemberton) in the sitting categories and Andy Lin (Burnaby) in the standing categories.
Team BC Judo had an incredibly strong performance at the Canada Games earning nine individual medals and two team medals. Of the 14 Judo athletes, 11 are BC Games alumni including Gold and Silver medalists, Ian Ryder (Richmond), Brae Booth (Creston) and Isabelle Harris (Mission).
Brayden Kuroda (Penticton) showed his dominance in Freestyle Skiing with gold medals in aerials and moguls and Skye Clarke (West Vancouver) brought home a full set of medals with gold in slopestyle, silver in big air and bronze in half pipe. Both athletes competed at the 2016 BC Winter Games.
Every athlete on the Wheelchair Basketball team was a BC Games alumni and they took this experience finishing the 2019 Canada Winter Games in the best position since the 2003 Games. Ten of the athletes will be also eligible for the 2023 Games in Prince Edward Island and have a bright future ahead.
"We are extremely proud to see the success of Team BC at the 2019 Canada Winter Games and how BC Games alumni contributed to the overall results and medal count," said Alison Noble, President and CEO of the BC Games Society. "The success of our athletes is also due to the expertise and knowledge of coaches and support staff, many of whom have learned leadership skills through the BC Games.”
At the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Games, 19 athletes on Team Canada had previously competed at the BC Games or for Team BC including ski cross gold medalist Kelsey Serwa (2002 BC Winter Games and 2007 Canada Winter Games), bobsleigh gold medalist Justin Kripps (2002 BC Summer Games and 2005 Canada Summer Games) and para cross country bronze medalist Emily Young (2006 BC Summer Games and 2015 Canada Winter Games).
The 2020 BC Winter Games will take place in Fort St. John and the 2020 BC Summer Games in the Maple Ridge.
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS:
Alpine Skiing
GOLD and BRONZE: Hemming Sola (Penticton) - 2016 BC Winter and BC Summer Games
Archery
SILVER: Spencer Gamache (Quesnel) – 2016 BC Winter Games
SILVER: Adi Shapira (Vancouver) – 2018 BC Winter Games
BRONZE: Adam Deane (Delta) – 2018 BC Winter Games
Biathlon
GOLD & BRONZE: Ryan Elden (Whistler) – 2012, 2014 and 2016 BC Winter Games
GOLD & BRONZE: Larissa Black (Squamish) – 2016 BC Winter Games
3 BRONZE: Andre Secu (Coquitlam) - 2014 and 2016 BC Winter Games
BRONZE: Natalie Benoit (Summerland) - 2016 BC Winter Games
BRONZE: Ethan Algra (Vernon) - 2016 BC Winter Games
Cross Country Skiing
3 GOLD: Remi Drolet (Rossland) – 2014 BC Winter Games
2 GOLD: Jasmine Drolet (Rossland) – 2016 BC Winter Games
GOLD: Tallon Noble (Courtney) – 2014 BC Winter Games
2 SILVER: Benita Peiffer (Whistler) – 2014 BC Winter Games
Para Nordic
3 GOLD: Andy Lin (Burnaby) – 2012 and 2014 BC Winter Games
3 GOLD: Ethan Hess (Pemberton) - 2014 BC Winter Games
Figure Skating
GOLD: Brendan Giang and Hailey Yu (Burnaby) – 2018 BC Winter Games
GOLD: Kiera Kam (Burnaby) – 2018 BC Winter Games
SILVER: Wesley Chiu (Richmond) – 2016 BC Winter Games
SILVER: Jeff Leung (Vancouver) – 2018 BC Winter Games
BRONZE: David Li (Richmond) – 2018 BC Winter Games
Freestyle Skiing
2 GOLD: Brayden Kuroda (Penticton) – 2014 and 2016 BC Winter Games
GOLD & SILVER & BRONZE: Skye Clarke (West Vancouver) – 2016 BC Winter Games
BRONZE: Jo Howell (Mt. Currie) – 2016 BC Winter Games
Gymnastics
BRONZE: Ryan Woodhead (Delta) – 2014 BC Winter Games
Hockey Female
BRONZE: Reece Hunt (Nelson) - 2012 BC Summer Games and Rebecca Clark (North Vancouver) - 2014 BC Summer Games
Judo
GOLD & SILVER: Ian Ryder (Richmond) – 2016 BC Winter and BC Summer Games
GOLD & SILVER: Brae Booth (Creston) – 2016 BC Winter Games
GOLD & SILVER: Isabelle Harris (Mission) – 2016 BC Winter Games
2 SILVER: Payton Harris (Mission) – 2018 BC Winter Games
2 SILVER: Caleigh Kuramoto (Richmond) – 2016 BC Winter Games
2 SILVER: Klavdia Danilkov (Vancouver) – 2018 BC Winter Games
Snowboard
SILVER: Colby Graham (Prince George) – 2016 BC Summer Games
SIVLER: Juliette Pelchat (Whistler) – 2018 BC Winter Games
SILVER: Maggie Compton (Whilster) – 2018 BC Winter Games
Speed Skating – Long Track
BRONZE: Josh Telizyn (Fort St. John) – 2016 and 2018 BC Winter Games
BRONZE: Team Pursuit Female – 3 of 4 team members are BC Games alumni
Speed Skating – Short Track
BRONZE: Team Relay Female – All 4 team members are BC Games alumni
For more information on Team BC's performance visit www.teambc.org
See full results on the 2019 Canada Winter Games website.