Fifty-five Canadians begin their quest for gold today at the 2018 Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, with competition in alpine skiing, biathlon, wheelchair curling and para ice hockey among the events.
Canadian athletes who have earned medals at both the Sochi Winter Games in 2014 and at World Cup events are among those participating.
Canadians to watch:
- Alpine skiing, Mac Marcoux, 7:25 p.m. ET on Friday
The Games’ first medals will be decided at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre, where the men’s and women’s downhill events take place. Marcoux, along with guide Jack Leitch, looks to build on his success in Sochi, where he captured three medals.
The 20-year-old competes in the men’s visually impaired category, where he was a bronze medallist four years ago.
Other Canadians in contention include Alana Ramsay and Mollie Jepsen in women’s standing, Alexis Guimond in men’s standing, and Kurt Oatway in men’s sitting.
Ramsay was Canada’s 2016 female Para Athlete of the Year and won four medals at last year’s world championships.
- Biathlon, Mark Arendz, Brittany Hudak, Emily Young, 7:55 p.m. ET on Friday
Arendz competes in the men’s 7.5-kilometre race in the standing and visually impaired category. He was a silver medallist in Sochi.
Collin Cameron, Sebastien Fortier and Derek Zaplotinsky are also competing in the men’s event.
Brittany Hudak and Emily Young lead Canada’s medal hopes in the 6-km race in the standing category. Each has had success on the World Cup circuit.
- Wheelchair curling, Switzerland vs. Canada, 12:30 a.m ET on Saturday (2nd match 5:30 a.m vs. Norway)
Skip Mark Ideson looks to keep Canada’s perfect streak at the Paralympics alive. Canada has won gold at each Games since wheelchair curling’s introduction at the Torino Games in Italy in 2006.
He’s joined by two members of his gold medal-winning team in Sochi: Ina Forrest, and Dennis Thiessen. Ideson’s rink will take on Norway (5:30 a.m. ET) in their second round-robin match.
- Para ice hockey, Canada vs. Sweden, 4:55 a.m. ET on Saturday
Canada is the reigning world champion but seeks its first Paralympic gold medal since Torino. After coming up empty in Vancouver, the Canadian squad rebounded for a bronze medal in Sochi.
Captain Greg Westlake returns for a fourth Games and has also represented Canada at seven world championships, capturing the title on three occasions.
Adam Dixon, a 28-year-old defenceman from Midland, Ont., had four goals and three assists as Canada’s points leader in Sochi.
More than 600 hours of coverage
Broadcasts of the Games, which run March 9-18, will be available daily on CBC and Radio-Canada with live streams hosted on the CBC Sports app, as well as CBC.ca/sports/paralympics and Radio-Canada.ca/Jeuxparalympiques.
Daily coverage of the 10-day event on CBC will total 38 hours, with live reporting from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturdays and 6 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Sundays.
Canadians will also be able to keep track of the athletes through highlights shown Monday to Friday between 4 p.m and 6 p.m.
