Four British Columbia teens combined to win gold in the skate-ski mixed relay on March 4 to wrap up cross-country-skiing at the Canada Winter Games on Prince Edward Island.
Marlie Molinaro (Whistler), Ian Mayer (West Kelowna), Eamon Wilson (Vancouver) and Alexandra Luxmoore (Revelstoke) were crowned champions as they came together for a time of 47 minutes and 32.90 seconds.
It's mission accomplished for Molinaro, the former Whistlerite and Pembertonian who now represents the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA). She is leaving the Maritimes with two medals, having already earned bronze in the women's 10-kilometre skate-ski event.
“This feels great. I’m so happy and so happy for our team. What a great last day of the Games,” said an elated Luxmoore following a clutch and courageous final lap.
How it happened
It was an epic battle among the nation’s top cross-country skiing prospects in Brookvale. Each member of the assembled four-athlete teams was to ski two laps of the 2.5-kilometre loop at Mark Arendz Provincial Ski Park.
Seven units representing British Columbia, Quebec, Alberta and Ontario pulled away from the field of 29 in the opening five kilometres. They stuck together until the final lap of the third leg, when Quebec and British Columbia made a surge.
It appeared to be a two-province race at that moment. 17-year-old Tory Audet of Chelsea, Que. bolted off the start line for the anchor leg, with Luxmoore seconds behind. Ontario had dropped out of gold-medal contention, but Alberta wasn't quite done yet.
Audet and Luxmoore matched each other stride for stride on their first lap, with 17-year-old Edmontonian Alison Mackie turning on her afterburners close behind them.
“It was so much fun skiing with Tory, pushing each other on the downhills and over the top,” said Luxmoore, who is a member of Nordiq Canada’s Olympic Development Team with Audet and Mackie. “On the top of the loop, I saw Alison was catching up, so I wanted to make a move to put an extra push in for the end of the Canada Winter Games.”
Luxmoore hit the gas for her finishing kick, and Audet wasn’t able to respond. The Revelstoke native never looked back, powering her way to gold down the stretch with her teammates waiting to swarm her in the finish corral.
“I made quite a push over the top. I just didn’t want to let anyone get the draft. It was a lot of fun,” added Luxmoore.
Not long afterwards, Team Alberta piled onto Mackie, who overtook Audet with an inspiring final leg that saw her win her fourth medal of the week (one gold and three silver).
Mackie joined Noah Weir-Chaba, Sabine Comeau and Jonas Rolseth for a time of 47:34.60 and the silver medal.
Quebec’s Xavier Lefebvre, Élie-Anne Tremblay, Alexandre Cormier and Audet hung on for bronze at 47:38.0.
Para-Nordic performances
Since 2011, Para-Nordic skiing has also been part of the Canada Winter Games. Para athletes were also included in the mixed gender relay with Olympic stream athletes.
“It has just been so incredible to be here. I have learned so much from everyone,” said Edmonton’s Denyse Dawe. “It was really, really cool. There were a lot of teams that needed people so it was great that Para athletes were able to jump in. So cool to see mixed gender on the course and have everyone included today. This was just a really fun event.”
The sit-skiers took to the course early on Saturday morning. Team Ontario's Erica Carmela Scarff won the women’s five-kilometre race with a time of 22:55.0. Tanya Quesnel, also of Ontario, was second at 23:26.10, followed by Saskatchewan’s Krystle Shewchuk in third at 24:28.8.
Kaden Baum of Salmon Arm, B.C. won the men’s five-kilometre sit-ski test with a time of 26:03.6. Ontarian Nathan Perry was second at 36:10.40 and Jeremy Brandon Jones of Newfoundland notched a third-place effort of 43:54.70.
