The Special Olympics Canada Winter Games aren’t over just yet, but Team Yukon is already set to return home with at least two gold medals.
Darby ‘Padraig’ McIntyre and Owen Munroe both earned spots on the top of the podium in their divisions in the five-kilometre cross-country skiing event at the games being held in Calgary.
The races saw all three Team Yukon skiers take to the course at the Confederation Park Golf Course, with McIntyre taking gold in the M1 division 5K, finishing a full four minutes over his closest competitor with a time of 17:38:40.
Munroe’s finish in the M3 final saw him claim gold with a time of 26:18:40. His closest competitor came in less than a minute behind him.
Team Yukon’s Ernest Chua will also be competing in finals for the 500-metre and one-kilometre skiing events over the next two days.
Meanwhile, the territory’s Special Olympics bowling team started their events with one win against Alberta (Calgary) and two losses against Manitoba and Alberta (Edmonton).
“Those that made the trek to the bowling alley enjoyed enthusiastic cheering for all participating teams in the five-pin tourney and witnessed some great bowling,” Special Olympics Yukon executive director Serge Michaud said in a statement.
Michaud also noted that both the athletes and coaches on the four-member curling team remained in good spirits despite losses in a “very tough division 2” category of competition. The team was defeated by Ontario with a score of 13-0 and by New Brunswick with a score of 7-1.
Team Yukon will continue to see action in a variety of events to the end of the games on March 2.
Contact Stephanie Waddell at stephanie.waddell@yukon-news.com