Oatway dazzles in bronze
Kurt Oatway, who started his Para alpine career in Regina, marked his return to the Paralympic stage with a bronze medal finish in the men’s downhill sitting event with a time of 1:19.42 seconds.
He was 1.28 seconds behind the first-place finisher.
Oatway will have a one-day break before returning to the slopes for the men’s super-G sitting event on Monday at 4:55 a.m. SK time.
Hudak finishes sixth
Brittany Hudak, who hails from Prince Albert, opened her time in Italy with a sixth-place finish in the Para biathlon women’s sprint standing event, where she finished with a time of nineteen minutes and 43.3 seconds.
She had no shooting penalties and finished 1:01.8 behind the first-place finisher.
Hudak will now look ahead to her next race, the individual standing, tomorrow morning at 5:10 a.m. SK time.
Canada brings the heat
Saskatoon’s Dean Seymour joined the Canadian Para ice hockey team as video coach and saw them start preliminary play with an 8-0 shutout over Slovakia.
Canada took control of the scoreboard in the first period with James Dunn scoring six minutes and forty-six seconds in before his teammate Auren Halbert added another point just over three minutes later.
Team captain Tyler McGregor was next to get the puck in the back of Solvakia’s net at ten minutes and eleven seconds, with Vincent Boily bringing Canada 4-0 with three minutes left on the clock in the opening period.
The second period saw Liam Hickey secure the sole point five minutes and twenty-nine seconds in.
In the final period, Dunn and Boily each made their second goal of the game within four minutes of each other.
Dominic Cozzolino took advantage of Slovakia being down a player due to a penalty and made Canada’s final goal on a power play.
In the net for Canada, Corbin Watson earned the shutout by stopping the two shots he all faced, while Slovakia’s Eduard Lepacek went 43-for-51.
Canada takes win against host
Kipling’s Gil Dash started his debut on the Paralympic stage with a high, after the Canadian wheelchair curling team edged host country, Italy, to an 9-8 loss this morning.
The red and white came out hot, stealing four points in the first end, before the Italians secured a double in the second.
Canada used the hammer to their advantage to add a triple to the scoreboard in the third and a double in second, bringing things 9-2 into the fifth end.
It was all Italy from there, seeing them claim back-to-back doubles and singles, but they weren’t quite able to close the gap.
Upcoming Saskatchewan competition
Day Two in Italy will see returning action from two of Saskatchewan’s athletes.
Gil Dash will be doing double time as the Canadian mixed wheelchair curling team is set to play Great Britain at 2:35 a.m. SK time followed by Norway at 11:35 a.m. SK time.
Meanwhile, Brittany Hudak will also be having an early start to the day as she competes in her second event of the Games, the women’s individual standing, at 5:10 a.m. SK time.
Paralympic Notes: Team Canada was quick to make their way onto the medal table after Kaelle Ericsson secured silver in the men’s downhill vision impaired ski event and Kurt Oatway claimed bronze in the sitting category. In addition, Para biathlete Natalie Wilkie shined in silver after she finished second in the women’s sprint standing. Canada’s medal count: 3 (0 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze). A full recap of the Canadian action to this point is available at Paralympic.ca