'Skill and the talent': Manitobans enjoy medal haul at Special Olympics World Winter Games in Italy
Contingent of 9 Manitobans responsible for a total of 11 medals so far in Turin
With 11 medals and counting, Manitoban athletes are taking over Italy's Piedmont Region with the largest delegation from the province so far at the Special Olympics World Winter Games.
More than 1,500 athletes with cognitive delays, intellectual and developemental disabilities,e from 100 delegations have been competing in eight sports at the Games, running from March 8 until Saturday in Turin, Italy.
Nine Manitobans are among this year's Team Canada delegation, including Brita Hall, from Winnipeg.
"I'm so excited that I can I'm out here and ski, that I can do what I can do … and getting medals," Hall told CBC News Friday.
Hall added two silver medals to Team Canada's count after finishing second in the 5K and 7.5K free technique competitions in her division.
Shawn Jesse, an assistant coach at the Special Olympics, has been training with Hall at the Games, picking up on the work from her Winnipeg coach.
"She was able to bring her best to these Games," Jesse said. "She works really hard … not only on skis."
During off-season, Hall picked up track running to stay in shape before the ski season, when she joined two training camps and participated in other competitions leading up to the Special Olympics.
"It's been very busy," Jesse said. "It's been a long two weeks, athletes competed hard."
Hall is one of nine Manitobans on Team Canada, the largest delegation the province has ever sent to the Winter Games — a "huge achievement" for Special Olympics Manitoba.
WATCH | Nine Manitobans among 90 Canadian athletes competing at Special Olympics Winter Games:
"Manitobans have such a strength to them … athletes are determined and hard-working, and they really are top competitors across the world," Melissa Suggitt, the communications manager for Special Olympics Manitoba.
Another of Team Canada's standouts is Dylan Collins, an alpine skier from Selkirk, Man., who won gold in the intermediate giant slalom competition in his division and snatched a silver medal in the intermediate super-G event.
Collins trains at the Springhill Winter Park, Suggitt said, proving Manitoba athletes can compete at the highest level against others who train in the mountains.
"It just showcases the skill and the talent, the strength and resilience of our athletes to be competing at such a high level," Suggitt said.
Athletes were selected based on their performance at the Special Olympics Canada National Winter Games, held in Calgary last year.
Since they were drawn from the pool of contenders, Suggitt said athletes have been training a minimum of three to four days a week, even through the summer.
With snow in short supply at the end of fall, Suggitt said it was challenging for athletes to begin their winter training for the Games.
But "they came upon those obstacles … and still are performing at an elite level across the world in Italy," she said. "They are determined, resilient … their strength is unreal."
A testament to those values, Suggitt said, is Rachel Nickel, who won two bronze medals on snowshoeing — one of them while being sick, an increased challenge as an immunocompromised person.
"That just showcases the spirit of our athletes and the spirit of the Games," she said. "Our athletes can prove that regardless of ability, they are just as capable."
Other Manitoba athletes adding to the medal tally are snowshoers Alec Baldwin with a gold and a silver, Harry Burns with a gold and Jenny Noonan with two bronze medals.
With files from Zubina Ahmed