The results are in for the B.C. Winter Games held recently in Vernon, and plenty of North Shore athletes made their appearance on the podium.
North and West Vancouver athletes were a force to be reckoned with at the March 23-26 competition, bringing home more than 20 medals in a wide variety of individual and team events.
Skiing, both downhill and cross-country, proved to be a tremendous success for North Shore athletes, earning six gold medals in different events, including Andreas Inkster who won the gold medal in cross-country skiing.
Marek Novak and Lucas Gitt of West Vancouver each won two gold medals in different skiing events. Novak was awarded gold in the men’s slalom and men’s giant slalom events, while Gitt made a name for himself in cross-country skiing, earning his gold medals in the individual sprint and in the interval start event.
The mixed teams dual slalom event had North Vancouver athletes on all three teams that made it to the podium. Samuel Marshall and his team won the gold medal, while Paget Tua’s team won the silver. The bronze medal team featured Chantal Kim and Maggie Cormack.
Valorie Chan won the bronze medal for the female slalom and Deda Elena was awarded the silver medal in the female giant slalom.
The women’s ringette team achieved the gold medal, which included North Vancouver players Gracie Philips and Erika Pilkington and West Vancouver’s Madelyne Honcharuk.
West Vancouver’s Emily Chan won the gold medal in girls kumite advanced karate, and also received a gold medal with the girls kumite karate team. West Van’s Haumi Tarighatbin and his team also won the silver medal in boys kumite karate.
West Vancouver’s Marcus Zhou was a prolific badminton player, winning gold medals in both the mixed doubles and mixed team events, while Nelli Djavaherizadeh and her team won the bronze medal in girls badminton doubles.
From North Vancouver, Brydon Harris Irvine was awarded the bronze medal in two biathlon events, the sprint competition and the pursuit competition. Irvine’s team also won the gold medal in the mixed relay biathlon.
In artistic gymnastics, Zoe Buechler of North Vancouver won the bronze medal for her performance in the vault event.
The Vancouver Coastal team took the bronze medal in judo team competition, including North Vancouver athletes Sophia Shevchenko, Yegor Shevchenko, and Ivan Zamjitski. Sophia Shevchenko also won the bronze medal in the women’s judo under-63 kilogram category.
The B.C. Winter games are held every two years, giving athletes ample time to prepare for their next chance to compete for a position on the podium.
Jordan Copp is an intern reporter with the North Shore News. He can be contacted at [email protected].
