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Marcotte nears spot on Canadian team

The first Youth Olympic Games will be hosted by Singapore this August, and the Yukon might...

The first Youth Olympic Games will be hosted by Singapore this August, and the Yukon might… er, probably will be represented.

Pelly Crossing’s Danielle Marcotte returned from the Youth Olympic Games Quota Competition in Guatemala City at the end of last month; she competed against female junior pistol shooters from 14 South American countries.

Missing the bronze by just five points, Marcotte finished fourth in her division, but had the best results of the eight Canadian competitors present, all of whom finished in the top eight of their respective divisions.

The top two junior female finishers were awarded invitations to the Youth Olympics, but with a pair of wildcards available for Team Canada, Marcotte might still get the call.

“Right now Danielle has a good chance,” said coach and father Darcy Marcotte. “We’re expecting the confirmation with-in days. It’s not 100 per cent that she’s going - I’d say it’s 99.9 per cent.

“We had to do all the accreditation for going on the team, so she had to get all that ready so she’s good to go.”

Marcotte, who won gold at the 2010 International Grand Prix competing in the women’s international juniors division in February, had difficulty adjusting to the hot climate in Guatemala, which limited her performance, she said.

“It was horrible. I didn’t think it would be that bad,” said Danielle. “I was in Brazil a couple years ago and it was really hot there too, but I assumed where I was going to be shooting (in Guatemala) was going to be air conditioned, and I was too wrong about that.

“It was in a stone building, but it was more a stone oven. The air conditioning just happened to break down, so it was like shooting in an oven and it was horrible.

“I live in the Yukon, so I’m not one with the heat,” she continued. “I felt weaker and had an icepack and I was constantly putting ice all over me. It was affecting me in all kinds of ways.

“I did OK with what I had to work with.”

If the Canadian team decides to go with another shooter for the Youth Olympics, Marcotte won’t be sitting around at home over the summer.

“She has a lot on her plate right now because, depending what happens with Youth Olympics, if Danielle doesn’t by chance get the spot for that, she’s already on the roster for going to the World Junior Championships in Germany in August,” said Darcy. “She’s got one or the other, but of course the Youth Olympics is what we want.”

Up next, Marcotte will be competing at the Maple Leaf Air Gun Championships, Alberta’s provincials, in the second weekend of May.

Contact Tom Patrick at

tomp@yukon-news.com