Four medals were won by local athletes at the Penticton 2016 BC Winter Games Friday.
From Penticton, gold, silver and bronze were won in freestyle skiing. Brayden Kuroda took gold in juvenile slope style, while Alec Henderson picked up silver in youth slope style and Liam Collyer got bronze. From Summerland, Natalie Benoit earned silver in individual girls junior biathlon, finishing in 26 minutes. Caitlyn Riddle earned bronze in team kata for karate.
“I’m excited,” said Riddle. “I was really proud. Our kata came a long way.”
The medal has her excited for the rest of the Games.
Michelle Cowan, karate coach for the Thompson-Okanagan Zone, said Riddle performed well after losing in individual kata.
“She took it really hard. She puts a lot of pressure on herself,” said Cowan. “She expects a lot out of herself. As I told her, she needed to rise to be able to come back and do team kata.”
Cowan reminded Riddle of how amazing and strong she is. She also reminded her of how much she has trained and the time she has put in to be ready for the Games.
After day one, the Thompson-Okanagan zone is third in the medal standings with 19 — four gold, five silver and 10 bronze. Vancouver-Coastal leads with 33, including 14 gold.
