Collin Cameron earns Canada's 1st gold at para Nordic ski worlds
30-year-old from Sudbury, Ont., takes men's cross-country sitting sprints final
Canada's Collin Cameron won the country's first gold medal of the world para Nordic ski championship in Prince George, B.C.
Cameron, 30, took the men's cross-country sitting sprint title ahead of American Daniel Cnossen and Ukraine's Taras Rad. The Sudbury, Ont., native also won qualification as well as the first semifinal in the one-kilometre event.
"It's amazing. It is a dream come true," said Cameron. "I just wanted to come out here and go as fast as I could. The skis were like rockets today so kudos to all of the wax techs and supporters on the team that were a part of this today."
At his first Paralympics appearance last February in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Cameron won three bronze medals.
WATCH | Collin Cameron skis to para Nordic gold
Earlier at worlds, Cameron won silver in the men's 12.5-kilometre biathlon sit-skiing event for his first-ever world championship hardware, posting a career-best time of 44 minutes 45.5 seconds.
"I felt really good. Everyone around me believed in me today. It feels amazing," said Cameron. "To do this on Family Day is even more special. My immediate family are all back home, but my team is my extended family and I have had lots of moms and dads on the team taking care of me over the last couple of days. It is special to share this with them today."
On the women's side of the standing sprint Canada's Natalie Wilkie just missed the podium in fourth place while fellow Canuck Emily Young finished sixth.
Norway's Nilde Vilsen took home gold.
Wilkie, a Pyeongchang bronze medallist, found herself in a close race with less than a third of the 1.5-kilometre sprint remaining. Despite making a move, the Salmon B.C., native got boxed in resulting in the podium miss.
"It was a good fight," said Wilkie. "It was tough out there. I thought I was going to be able to catch the Ukraine skier for third, but I just didn't quite get her."