PARALYMPICS:

Bourgonje, Forest, Dueck nab silver medals in Paralympics

March 14, 2010 — SRC Staff Report    

►Photos: Viviane Forest and Lindsay Debou (CPC/Michael Cvitkovic); Josh Dueck (CPC/Kevin Bogetti-Smith)

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WHISTLER, B.C. — Make it three medals for Canada at the Paralympic Winter Games.

Colette Bourgonje captured Canada's first medal on Sunday, then Vivian Forest and Josh Dueck added to country's medal haul shortly after.

Bourgonje, from Saskatoon, won silver in the women's 10-kilometre sit-ski cross-country, finishing the race in 31 minutes 49.8 seconds to become the first Canadian to win a Paralympic medal on home turf.

"Wow, I'm shocked and I can't believe it," said the 48-year-old Paralympian. "Age is nothing, attitude is everything and I lived by that today."

The only Canadian athlete to have competed in all five Paralympic Winter Games to go along with four Summer Paralympics, Bourgonje was on pace to win gold before crashing on the second of three laps.

"I am still racing because I wanted to compete at a Paralympics in Canada and I'm just so proud to have done this in front of all Canadians," she said. "I share this medal with the entire country."

Liudmila Vauchok of Belarus won in 30:52.9 while Olena Iurkovska of Ukraine was third in 32:43.5.

Bourgonje received congratulations from Prime Minister Stephen Harper following her win. "Today, Colette has become part of the rich history of exceptional accomplishments by Canadian athletes. She is an inspiration to all Canadians."

Forest, from Edmonton, won silver in the women's slalom for the visually impaired. She and her guide Lindsay Debou of Whistler, B.C., finished in 2:01.45. Austria's Sabine Gasteiger won the race in 2:00.56.

“I’m really happy to win the silver,” said Forest at the bottom of Whistler Creekside. “Of course you’re always hoping for gold but I’m very content. I’m proud to be the first alpine athlete (Olympic or Paralympic) to win a medal in Whistler.”

Due to difficult weather conditions, race organizers switched competitions and the skiers were forced to change their mindset from downhill to slalom with little notice.

“Throw anything at us,” said Debou. “You can tell us 20 minutes before it (the change) happens and we’ll do it.”

In his first Paralympic race, para-alpine sit skier Dueck, of Vernon, B.C., pleased the many fans in attendance with a silver-medal performance in the men’s slalom. He finished the first run in fourth place but stormed through the second run to finish with a combined time of 1:46.29 for an impressive Paralympic debut. Germany's Martin Braxenthaler won in 1:41.63.

Dozens of supporters wearing I Love Josh Dueck T-shirts waved flags and sang the national anthem multiple times following the race. The popular skier hopes his silver medal will inspire others.

“I first thought after my accident that my disability wasn’t cool,” Dueck said. “This silver medal just proves that anything is possible if you work hard at it. I once heard someone say ‘You never know what will happen in life, so just get on with it.’ ”  SRC

— The Canadian Press and the CPC contributed to this report