Gangwon 2024: Team Canada at the end of Day 5
GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA (January 24, 2024) – Day 5 of the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games saw several Team Canada athletes wrap up their Games experience with their final event. In action today were twenty-one Team Canada athletes competing in seven sports.
ALPINE SKIING
Thomas Carnahan (Ottawa, Ont.) was back in action today at the Jeongseon High 1 Ski Resort in the men’s giant slalom. Unfortunately for the seventeen-year-old who placed ninth in the men’s Super-G, Carnahan missed a gate today and was therefore unable to finish the event. He will get another chance tomorrow as one of 78 competitors in the men’s slalom event.
BIATHLON
The biathlon events wrapped up with today’s mixed 4x6km relay. The Canadian team of Flora Csonka (Calgary, Alta.), Cheyenne Tirschmann (Whitehorse, Yuk.), Luke Hulshof (Calgary, Alta.) and Justin Konoff (Calgary, Alta.) had an exceptional race, placing sixth out of 26 nations. No shooting errors were made by the Canadians on the first prone shooting segment – an accomplishment only shared by two other nations in this race. All four athletes remained in the top-ten throughout the entire race, with Konoff finishing his first leg in fifth place. With the Youth Olympic Games being the international debut for five of six Team Canada biathletes, the team gained invaluable international racing experience while building new friendships.
“My favourite thing has been meeting all sorts of people. My teammates, and then all sorts of people from other countries within the sport and around the Village. It’s really been an awesome experience!”
– Justin Konoff
CURLING
Nathan Gray (Dartmouth, N.S.), Chloe Fediuk (Edmonton, Alta.), Owain Fisher (North River, N.S.) and Allie Iskiw (Edmonton, Alta.) concluded their Youth Olympic Games tournament following their seventh round robin game which resulted in a 4-2 loss to Team Denmark. Another close battle, Team Canada continued to fight to the end. The teams were tied until Denmark pulled away by a point in the seventh end, and added one more in the final end. Team Canada’s mixed curling team will return home with incredible experience gained and a hunger to continue training and developing.
FREESTYLE SKIING
The women’s ski slopestyle event was contested today at the Welli Hilli Park Ski Resort. Gabi Dinn (Kamloops, B.C.) didn’t have the runs she was hoping for in qualification, but landed a double-front on the last jump of her second run to the delight of her teammates, and finished her day pleased and proud. Ella Garrod (Vernon, B.C), who was a late addition to Team Canada due to a reallocated quota for women’s ski slopestyle, made the final in the tenth and last qualification spot. Garrod, who has to manage her type-one diabetes as a high-performance athlete, moved up three spots in the final to finish seventh overall.
“Oh my goodness, it was so fun out there! I’m stoked that I was able to put down some tricks, I had so much fun. I’m just so stoked to represent Team Canada, I think the lululemon kits are so fire, I love walking around the Village and seeing Canadians matching, it’s so much fun! I loved meeting other people from other countries and learning about their experiences and their sports – there’s so many sports here! It’s been super fun and I’m so thankful to be here!”
– Ella Garrod
SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING
Courtney Charlong (Campbellton, N.B), Victor Chartrand (Laval, Que.), Alexis Dubuc-Bilodeau (Trois-Rivières, Que.) and Océane Guérard (Quebec City, Que.) wrapped up the short track events with the mixed relay – the first appearance for the event on the Youth Olympic Games program. Team Canada placed second in their semifinal, qualifying them for the A-Final, along with China, Japan and the United States. After sitting comfortably in third for the majority of the race, they ultimately placed fourth after taking a fall on one of the final laps.
SKI CROSS
William ‘Kael’ Johnston (Calgary, Alta.), Anne-Marie Joncas (Whistler, B.C.), Cole Merrett (Calgary, Alta.) and Kael Oberlander (Big White, B.C.) were in action again today in the mixed team ski cross event. All four athletes finished their day in the quarterfinals, gaining valuable race experience that will serve them well as they progress in their ski cross careers.
SNOWBOARD
Amalia ‘Billy’ Pelchat (Whistler, B.C.) and Avery Spalding (Havelock, Ont.) were in action in the women’s snowboard slopestyle event. Spalding, who competed in slopestyle, big air and snowboard cross at the 2023 Canada Winter Games, finished her day in 14th place. Pelchat, daughter of former professional snowboarder JF Pelchat, wasn’t completely satisfied with her performance, and was already looking ahead to competing in the big air event to come after her ninth-place finish.
“Unfortunately I couldn’t put a good run down in the finals but I had a lot of fun, and it was still awesome! I’m competing in big air as well, so I’m going to try and relax and get ready for that one in a couple days.”
– Billy Pelchat
For full Team Canada results from Day 5, click here.
SCHEDULE FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS – JANUARY 25 (Day 6) / JANUARY 26 (Day 7)
*The “Potential / Comp. possible” column represents a potential phase of competition should a competitor advance. Rows in red are medal events.
TEAM CANADA MEDAL COUNT:
Gold – 0 | Silver – 1 | Bronze – 0
HOW TO WATCH:
As the official Gangwon 2024 broadcaster in Canada, CBC/Radio-Canada will provide coverage of the Games on cbcsports.ca, radio-canada.ca/sports and the CBC Sports app.
The Olympic Channel also has coverage of Gangwon 2024, live-streamed on their free app.
RESOURCES:
PHOTOS: Submit a request to Tara (tmacbournie@olympic.ca) for editorial photos from images.olympic.ca. Additional photos for editorial use only are available to media at oisphotos.com
VISIT: Olympic.ca/press-resources/ for athlete bios and other Gangwon 2024 information.
FOLLOW: @teamcanadapr on Twitter (X)
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Tara MacBournie, Team Canada’s Gangwon 2024 Communications Lead
Canadian Olympic Committee
WhatsApp: 647-522-8328
E: tmacbournie@olympic.ca