Canada's Brittany Hudak wins biathlon gold at Para Nordic World Cup in Canmore
Prince Albert, Sask., native claims 3rd gold medal at World Cup opener
Canadian Para nordic skier Brittany Hudak continued her impressive medal streak by winning her first Para Nordic World Cup biathlon race of the season on Saturday at Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park in Canmore, Alta.
The Prince Albert, Sask., native posted a time of 19:46.4 to top the podium in the women's six-kilometre sprint standing biathlon race for her third gold medal at the World Cup opener.
Emily Young of Kelowna, B.C., was fifth with a time of 21:22.9.
Hudak opened the season by tying for gold with teammate Natalie Wilkie in the women's 5km standing classification event, and she followed it up with another gold in the in the cross-country sprint.
The two-time Paralympian won bronze in biathlon at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.
WATCH l Hudak strikes gold in sprint standing biathlon in Canmore:
Hudak had to skate through a 150-metre penalty loop for missing a shot in her second bout. But she still managed to steer clear of Iuliia Mikheeva of the Russian Paralympic Committee, who shot clean for the silver medal (20:17.6), and Poland's Iweta Faron, who finished third (20:40.8).
"The biathlon sprint race really favours faster skiers. Even if you have one miss and have to do a penalty loop, you know if you are skiing the course fast you can make up time," said Hudak in a press release.
"Today was a bit of an experiment day for me. I just really wanted to see how fast I can ski and see what happens. It panned out."
Mark Arendz of Hartsville, P.E.I., finished fourth in the men's sprint standing biathlon race, while Bracebridge, Ont.'s Collin Cameron finished just .05 seconds away from the podium in the men's 6km sit-ski biathlon event.
Canadian athletes have claimed 14 medals at the at the Para Nordic Skiing World Cup so far.
