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Marcotte breaks records on way to second gold

Pelly Crossing's Danielle Marcotte has left her mark on the Canada Winter Games this week in Halifax. The Team Yukon target shooter won a second gold medal in the individual women's air pistol event on Thursday in Lower Sackville, leaving three Games records in her wake.
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HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

Pelly Crossing’s Danielle Marcotte has left her mark on the Canada Winter Games this week in Halifax.

The Team Yukon target shooter won a second gold medal in the individual women’s air pistol event on Thursday in Lower Sackville, leaving three Games records in her wake.

“Right now I’m extremely tired, but still really excited and proud,” said Marcotte. “We got up early, shot first thing in the morning, waited around for an hour or two, and did a shoot off, which is stressful.

“I’m really proud, more than excited - I don’t know what else to say.”

On her way to the podium’s top tier, in the 40 shots preliminary, Marcotte, 18, shot a score of 372, a new Canada Games record for women.


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In the 10-shot match final, she shot a 94.2 - another record.

Combining the scores, she ended with a 466.2 - a third women’s record.

“I wasn’t as nervous; I was really nervous on Tuesday,” said Marcotte. “Today I felt a lot more relaxed.

“I was a lot more surprised on Tuesday because I wasn’t very happy with my shoot.”

Marcotte’s teammate and little sister, Kyley Marcotte, shot a 346 on Thursday, missing the final by just three points and finishing in ninth.

“It was fun competing,” said Kyley, 15, who is eligible for the 2015 Games in Prince George, BC. “I had a good day - it wasn’t my best shoot and I barely missed (the final) by three points. I could have done better, but I’m still excited. I got really close, so it was still really exciting.”

The sisters won the Yukon’s first medal of the Games on Tuesday in the women’s team air pistol event. Kyley shot a 350, a personal best score for competition in the team event, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Tied for first with BC after the shoot, judges had to do a “countback” between the teams to determine the winner.

Both medals represent the first ever for the Yukon in the sport at the Canada Games.

“It was an awesome day, Danielle came out really strong and she stayed strong,” said father and coach Darcy Marcotte on Thursday. “She shot what she typically does shoot. She was very consistent and very strong and was very focused. It was her game for the taking.”

Danielle, who is a member of the national development team, has traveled the world competing.

Last August, Danielle was the only Yukoner on the Canadian team at the first-ever Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, finishing fourth in the junior women’s event.

In their first team event together - and Kyley’s first competition - the sisters won gold at the 2011 Canadian Grande Prix air-gun competition last month in Toronto. At the shoot, Danielle won gold in the female international juniors category and also in the finals, while Kyley finished first in the female sub junior category on the first day for a gold.

A former Junior Ranger, Danielle twice won the Junior Ranger Regional Air Rifle Championship, a competition between the three territories.

As of Friday morning, with only a freestyle skiing event left for the Yukon, the two target shooting medals are the only medals won by the territory in Week One of the Games. The two golds put the Yukon in ninth place in the medal count, just ahead of Nova Scotia, who has one gold and one bronze,

as well as NWT, Nunavut and PEI.

Contact Tom Patrick at

tomp@yukon-news.com