Of the 80 medals won by the Thompson-Okanagan zone during the B.C. Winter Games held in Vernon Feb. 23 to 26, eight returned to the South Okanagan.
Freestyle skiing and archery brought success as Penticton’s Noah Spence won three gold and one bronze medal, Jordan Kober won two gold medals as well as silver and a bronze medal. Keremeos’ Kassidy Todd brought home bronze, and Ceridwyn Olafsson of Penticton did the same in archery.
Spence said it felt good to stand on the podium following his performance.
“People were cheering,” said Spence, who looks up to Canadian Olympic gold medalist Alex Bilodeau. “It was really exciting. There was lots of competition and it was hard. It was a good challenge.”
Spence became excited when he found out he won during his first time at the Winter Games. Because of his success the 14-year-old has gained confidence. He put a lot of pressure on himself during the games, but it paid off.
“It was a great experience,” said Spence, who has his medals hanging on the wall of his bedroom. “It was all really fun.”
Kober, a member of the Apex Freestyle Club, enjoyed the experience because the event isn’t part of freestyle season. Knowing that points aren’t on the line, Kober wasn’t afraid to use the opportunity as a chance to practice his mental focus.
“It’s just all for fun,” said Kober, who participated in the Winter Games in Terrace two years ago. “I used it for experience, for dealing with pressure.”
Now Kober feels he is stronger. He won gold in combined male and dual mogul, silver in mogul male and bronze in big air.
“There was a lot of people from all over B.C.,” added Kober. “I think for moguls it wasn’t too tough. That’s what I train for every weekend. Big air was tough because I don’t do that. I managed to land my tricks and got third.”
Olafsson was “extremely proud of herself” in earning a bronze medal. Because other archers had more experience, she felt they had the advantage. One thing she had to adjust to was having eyes on her.
“I don’t like when people watch my shot,” she said. “It freaks me out.”
And eyes were on her during the elimination round, which has archers paired against each other.
“I felt I was rushed more and freaked out and didn’t perform as well,” she said, adding she felt that way because there was added pressure with more people shooting and watching.
Overall, Olafsson loved the experience of being at the games, and like Kober and Spence, enjoyed meeting other athletes.
“We have so much in common in archery,” she said of meeting her competitors. “I can’t talk to most of my friends about archery because they know nothing about it.”
For other results of local athletes on Thompson-Okanagan zone team, check www.pentictonwesternnews.com.
Teama Kata female team won bronze. Female hockey team finished fourth. Nicholas Everton placed 14th in Ski x male and 19th in slalom. Abi McCluskey was 12th in the speedskating 3,000-metre event and was third in Final B 400-m and 1,500-m girls.
Shaina Finlayson finished sixth in freestyle combined female.
