Mac Marcoux of Havilland Bay, Ontario has won Canada’s first gold medal of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. Marcoux won the gold medal in the men’s downhill alpine skiing event for the visually impaired on Friday (Saturday in Pyeongchang).
Marcoux posted a winning time of 1:23.93. Jakub Krako of Slovakia won the silver medal with a time of 1:25.35. Giacomo Bertagnolli of Italy won the bronze medal with a time of 1:26.46.
Marcoux earned a podium spot by 3.47 seconds. Yon Santacana Maiztegui of Spain finished in fourth place with a time of 1:27.40. This was Marcoux’s second gold medal and fourth medal overall in his career at the Paralympic Winter Games. At the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Marcoux won a gold medal in the men’s giant slalom and bronze in the men’s super giant slalom and downhill.
Team Canada earned a second alpine skiing medal on Friday (Saturday in Pyeongchang). Mollie Jepsen of Vancouver, British Columbia, who was born without three fingers, won the bronze medal in the women’s standing division. Jepsen posted a time of 1:34.60.
Marie Bochet of France won the gold medal with a time of 1:30.3. Andrea Rothfuss of Germany won the silver medal with a time of 1:32.53. Jepsen reached the podium by 0.61 seconds over Alana Ramsay of Calgary. Alberta, who finished in fourth with a time of 1:35.21. Jepsen was the first Canadian to earn a medal at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
Canada’s other two medals on day one came in biathlon. Mark Arendz of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island won the silver medal in the men’s 7.5 kilometre standing division. Arendz, who has no arm due to a farming accident, had a second place time of 18 minutes, 25.9 seconds. Benjamin Daviet of France won the gold medal with a time of 17 minutes, 56.6 seconds. Ihor Reptyukh of the Ukraine won the bronze medal with a time of 18 minutes, 40.9 seconds.
Arendz reached the podium by 34.3 seconds. Grygorii Vovchynskyi of the Ukraine was in fourth place with a time of 19 minutes, 0.2 seconds. It was Arendz’s third Paralympic Winter Games medal as he also won a silver medal in the in the men’s 7.5 km standing biathlon competition and a bronze medal in the men’s 12.5 km standing biathlon competition at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi.
Meanwhile, Collin Cameron of Sudbury, Ontario won the bronze medal in the men’s 7.5 kilometre sitting biathlon competition, becoming the first Canadian ever to win a sitting biathlon medal at the Paralympic Winter Games. Cameron posted a time of 23 minutes and 59 seconds for third place. Daniel Cnossen of the United States won the gold medal with a time of 23 minutes, 49.7 seconds. Dzmitry Loban of Belarus won the silver medal with a time of 23 minutes and 57 seconds.
Cameron earned a podium spot by 11.8 seconds. Taras Rad of the Ukraine was in fourth place with a time of 24 minutes, 10.8 seconds.
In sledge hockey, Canada hammered Sweden 17-0. Tyler McGregor of London, Ontario and Adam Dixon of Midland, Ontario each had six points. McGregor had four goals and two assists and Dixon had one goal and five assists. Canada next plays Italy on Sunday at 4 a.m. MT.
In wheelchair curling, Canada hammered Switzerland 8-0 and Norway 10-1 in their first two games of competition. They play Sweden next on Saturday night at 10:35 p.m. MT.
In the medal standings, Team Canada sits in third place with four medals. The United States and Ukraine each have five medals.
