At the risk of sounding too patriotic – it’s a great time to be Canadian.
Watching highlights of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang has served as a reminder of how great the country that we live in is. It is one that supports its athletes on their road to achieving their dreams, cheers for their successes in public and at home, and welcomes them back like heroes.
At the time of this writing, Canada had claimed 17 medals – six gold, five silver and six bronze – the third most medals behind Norway and Germany.
While people across the country, as well as Vancouver Island, will be watching eagerly and cheering for Canadian athletes in the days before the Olympics wrap up, there’s also another sporting event that deserves our attention.
The B.C. Winter Games takes place Feb. 22 to 25 in Kamloops, and is a multi-sport event that brings together more than 1,500 young athletes, coaches and officials in 19 sports.
The West Shore has an abundance of athletes competing in the Games. View Royal Twins Kieran and Kyle Brown, who were featured in the Gazette last week, will be competing in speed skating, along with Langford’s Peyton Jo Stonehouse-Smith, and Sampson McNeill, Cohen Dawson, Anthony Budden and Zack Drought will be competing in curling.
Other West Shore athletes include Cecilia Winter, Eva Sagodi, Jessica Gray, and Juliette Porter competing in rhythmic gymnastics, Nicole Chan competing in Badminton and Emily Walzak who is competing in figure skating in the Special Olympics.
Don’t forget to show your support for local athletes this week. While they may still be young, it’s a huge achievement to be able to make it to the B.C. Winter Games – an achievement that should be recognized and applauded. Most have trained for months on end hoping for a podium finish.
Good luck, athletes, we’re rooting for you!