Mel Pemble of Victoria burst out of the gates Monday at Prince George’s Purden Ski Village to win the women’s Giant Slalom Para female race at the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
“The nerves came this morning but I tried to push them back and I guess it worked,” said the 14-year-old Pemble, in a statement.
“I took my first run a little more carefully that I would have liked but I was feeling it out. I was actually a little surprised at how fast I was on that one. Then by the second run, I went all out. I was really hoping for a podium finish coming into this event. When I saw how fast I skied I was really happy.”
When the final skier’s time was posted Pemble, who has cerebral palsy and began skiing on Mount Washington, knew the gold was hers. That realization was emotional and took a bit of time to set in: “The suspense was so hard and when I knew I had gold, there were so many mixed emotions — relief, excitement.”
In other action, B.C.’s girls hockey team, captained by Saanichton’s Micah Hart, defeated Prince Edward Island 5-1 at the CN Centre.
