P.E.I. – The next big name in the Bow Valley sports scene and beyond could be headed to the Canada Winter Games this weekend in Prince Edward Island.
Eleven locals qualified for the national competition from Feb. 18 to March 5, which is to give a proving ground for elite athletes, aged between 13-20, wanting to compete at the international level.
Biathlon starts Monday (Feb. 20) and attending from the Bow Valley are sharpshooters Liam Tinworth, Lucia Baergen, and Theo Fradette.
Both alpine skiing and cross-country skiing events begin March 2 with local downhill athletes Emma Fynn, Maxim Cater, and Thomas Cais scheduled to race. On the frozen cross-country trails will be Felix Clement, Sabine Comeau, Seb Parent, and Noah Weir Chaba.
Making his Canada Winter Games debut, Weir Chaba is already sizing up the competition.
“I definitely want to do well in the classic race, maybe even podium in,” said Weir Chaba. “I think we have a strong Alberta team. B.C. is definitely our huge competition, but I think we have a strong team to put up a fight against them.”
Also making his debut is Alberta Alpine skier Cais. The son of a ski instructor, the 15-year-old has been around local slopes his entire life and believes top-10s are an achievable goal.
While racing on the provincial series, Cais does both speed and technical events, but leans toward the downhill and super-G events.
“I just love going fast,” he said.
Cais added he hopes to reaffirm the leaps he’s made in his game this season.
“I don’t think it would be easy, there’s lots of competition out there. Lots of really good skiers,” he said.
“But it definitely feels like more anticipation and build up towards it ‘cause it’s a big event. You really want to perform there, too.”
Mogul skier Kierra Hurry is the 11th local athlete to qualify for the Canada Winter Games; however, the 20-year-old freestyle skier withdrew from the competition after suffering a right ankle sprain last week training.
Stuck in a recovery boot for at least the next two weeks, the podium-threat is disappointed to miss her sophomore Canada Winter Games.
“I was super excited to go, especially because I have family out in P.E.I. and they’ve never really gotten to see me ski,” said Hurry. “I was hoping to have big results this time around in the last year I would qualify for the Canada Winter Games.”
Four years ago as a 16-year-old rookie, Hurry got her first taste at the Games. This season, she has shown strong results on the NorAm circuit and grabbed a couple of top 10s at the national selections.
The national championships are at the end of March, which Hurry aims to compete if her recovery goes to plan.
The opening ceremonies for the Canada Winter Games are Saturday (Feb. 18) and the competition gets underway Sunday. Team Alberta is made up of 238 athletes, competing in 19 sports.
