North Okanagan, Shuswap athletes head to 2022 Paralympic Games
Two North Okanagan athletes, one Shuswap skier and a Vernon ambassador are heading to the 2022 Paralympics. Three-time Paralympic medalist and Vernon resident Josh Dueck is Team Canada’s chef de mission, serving as an ambassador for the team into the games while Lumby’s Logan Leach...
Valandos
Two North Okanagan athletes, one Shuswap skier and a Vernon ambassador are heading to the 2022 Paralympics.
Three-time Paralympic medalist and Vernon resident Josh Dueck is Team Canada’s chef de mission, serving as an ambassador for the team into the games while Lumby’s Logan Leach will be alpine skiing in Bejing.
The 19-year-old began alpine skiing in 2010, shortly after his Stargardt disease diagnosis, which causes vision impairment, with SilverStar Adaptive Snow Sports, according to his Paralympics bio.
From there, he went to Colorado and won three gold medals in the USA/Canada Para alpine nationals. Leach was the first skier with a disability to join the Snow Sport Academy, blazing a trail for others to follow.
Leach and his guide Julien Petit competed at the two first World Cup stops in the 2021-22 season. They accumulated eight top-10 results in the visually impaired category, their best result a fifth in slalom at the second stop in St. Moritz, Switzerland, according to his bio.
Ina Forrest, from Armstrong, is also competing in wheelchair curling. She has reached the podium in all three of her Paralympic Games appearances so far. She was a member of Canada’s gold medal winning team in 2010 and 2014 then added a bronze in 2018 in PyeongChang.
She has been conducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame, according to her bio.
Natalie Wilkie, from Salmon Arm, is also competing in Nordic skiing. She was Canada’s youngest athlete at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. She made a games debut at age 17 with a gold, silver, and bronze in cross-country skiing.
Canada’s Paralympic stars are making their final preparations for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, with 49 athletes, including four guides. The Canadian Paralympic Committee confirmed the complete Beijing 2022 Canadian Paralympic Team Friday, which will be competing March 4-13.
A team of 49 coaches and support staff will be working with the athletes in Beijing.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Carli Berry or call 250-864-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
