March 14, 2010 (Whistler, BC) – What a race for Saskatoon native Collette Bourgonje. She

had the fastest split for the first half of this race, but then Belarus’ Liudmila Vauchok began to gain time on her during the latter five kilometres, and took over the top spot as the race ended. While Bourgonje tried to fight back from second position, she also had to ensure that the powerful Ukranian team made up of professional athletes were not going to challenge her, especially when she fell on one of the more tricky corners.

In the end Vauchok claimed the gold in 30:52:9, while Bourgonje won the silver, the first medal for Canada of the Paralympic Games at 1:06:2 back, with the Ukraine’s Olena Iurkovska settling for bronze at1:50:6 back. Iurkovska won gold the day before in the biathlon. Teammate Svitlana Tryfonova, who took the bronze medal in biathlon, was 4th 2:08:6 minutes back while Norway’s Mariann Vestbostad took 5th, at 2:34:9 minutes back. American skier Monica Bascio placed 9th at 3:55:1 minutes behind.

Just as in able-bodied races, this was an individual start race but final times are adjusted depending on the severity of an injury. This can make waiting for final results at the finish line particularly nerve wracking. But, like everything else that has come her way, Bourgonje took it in stride and with the perspective of a life-long athlete.

“I hope to show that anyone can ski. I am a teacher part-time to support my skiing. All kids can use skiing. The able-bodied kids I take skiing don’t see any difference when I take them skiing in class. It good for them and good for me.”

In terms of the race, Bourgonje says she “felt strong today. My skis were awesome. Thanks to the team on the course, they were awesome too. I am very happy with the result today. I fell on the downhill but managed to pull myself back. The weather during the race was better than the weather now,” Bourgonje said as she looked up at the thick snow that started falling after the race.

Bourgonje started out as a national level cross-country runner, but an automobile collision in 1980 turned her into a paraplegic. While many would have been devastated, Bourgonje switched sports and obtained a physical education degree from the University of Saskatchewan. As a veteran of six winter Olympics as a para-Nordic skier and four summer Olympics as a wheelchair racer, she now appears to be ageless.

The Metis skier from Saskatoon is forty-eight years old and is skiing faster than ever before, saying age is just a number. “My life has been quite a journey,” said Bourgonje, in an understatement after the race. “Age is nothing. It is the training and what you put into sport. I will compete for one more year before I transition into real life,” she added, with her classic smile, saying she would head back into the classroom in September. “I’m so happy to see young energy, young skiers in the programme and it’s great to have guys like Mark [Arendz] and Sebastean [Fortier] here.” Both are members of the team in their early twenties who are relatively new to the sport, but have quickly become completely devoted to it.

Gold medalist Vauchok, who won the race with her incredible speed on the uphills, appeared to be very excited about her win as she crossed the line and twirled her pole in the air, but later shrugged off her accomplishment, saying it was “only one medal.” Vauchok won gold in the distance event at Torino, followed by two silver. She admitted it did mean quite a bit to her. “It is a special success. But my only task today was to do my very best, and this is what I did. I’ve got three more competitions. But whether I will succeed or not, that depends on God only.”

Bronze medalist Iurkovska mentioned God’s support as well, “Thank God. I prayed to God to win a medal. I am very happy about it. I also won a medal [in biathlon on Saturday] – a gold. These two races were completely different. Biathlon is my favorite sport. The girls who were first and second [today] did not take part and had time to rest.”