BC Sweeps the Podium in Men’s Sitski for the 3rd time, Jasmine and Remi Drolet win gold for B.C.

    March 1, 2019

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    For the third day in a row Pemberton’s Ethan Hess claimed gold for BC, in the men’s 5k sitski competition and was again joined on the podium by the Vancouver duo of Leo Sammarelli and Paul Finkbeiner.

    Ethan Hess “another gold was great, but what I was most proud of is being joined on the podium for the third day in a row, by my B.C. teammates.”

    Burnaby’s Andy Lin added to quite the medal haul by B.C., claiming his second gold in the men’s standing competition. Sudbury, Ontario’s Kyle Barber was second and Manitoba’s Jesse Bachinsky, with guide Simon Lamarche, claimed bronze.

    Andy Lin “ the race went well, I didn’t have any expectations going into it, I just focussed on myself and having a good race, skiing aggressively, I really enjoyed today.”

    In the women’s Para-Nordic races, Quebec’s Lyne Marie Bilodeau from Sherbrooke and Cindy Morin of Levis both picked up their third gold medals in the sitski and standing competitions. Lyne Marie was joined on the podium once again by Tanya Quesnel of Sudbury, Ontario and Kryztle Shewchuk of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in the silver and bronze positions.

    Cindy Morin, with guide Etienne Lavoie-Trudeau, once again had Celine Kavanaugh of Grand Falls, New Brunswick and Maya Jonas of B.C., with her on the podium.

    The mass start’s were a Rossland, B.C. family affair, as 16 year old Jasmine Drolet claimed gold in the women’s 10k, classic race and her brother Remi, won the men’s 15k.

    Both races were similar, with Quebec skier Antoine Cyr of Gatineau skiing with Remi for much of the race, before dropping off a bit on the last lap. Sam Hendry of Canmore, Alberta managed to keep ahead of a chase pack of six that were chasing him for much of the race.

    Remi Drolet “It means a lot to get the gold, I managed to drop Antoine on a hill near the beginning of the last lap and just tried to keep ahead of him through to the finish. I heard just before the race that my sister had won, so I was really pumped and I had to try to live up to her performance and get the gold as well.”

    In the women’s race it was another Quebec skier, Laura Leclair of Chelsea, that kept with Jasmine for much of the race, before dropping off in the final few kilometres. Laura finished second to collect a compete set of medals in the three events. Whitehorse, Yukon’s Natalie Hynes came through with bronze for the Territory.

    It was an impressive performance for Jasmine, skiing against skiers up to six years older than herself.

    Jasmine Drolet “The race was really good, it was good to start at the front and try to stick with the older girls. I’m super excited to be on the podium and it is awesome that my brother and all the B.C. Para athletes made the podium as well.”

    The relay races, featuring two male and two female skiers will be the final cross country ski races of the Games on Saturday afternoon.