4 to compete for Canada
Okanagan athletes off to Austria next week for Special Olympics World Winter Games
Agroup of local athletes is gearing up to compete in the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria next week.
Kelowna residents Tracey Melesko and Francis Stanley will compete in cross-country skiing, along with teammate Justin Sigal of Vernon.
Tony Wilkinson, also from Kelowna, will compete in snowshoeing at the Games.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to be part of a Canadian team going to another part of the world and watching our athletes who trained very hard and see how they perform and stack up against the best of the world,” said Garth Vickers, cross-country ski coach in Kelowna.
This will be Melesko’s second time at the Special Olympics World Winter Games, and the rest of the team’s first time.
Each of the athletes has been training for the Games since last year, following the national competition.
“We’ve been skiing three days a week as a team,” said Vickers, adding the athletes also train on their own.
Near-perfect snow conditions in Kelowna have made it difficult to prepare for potentially difficult weather conditions at the Games, he said.
“It’s challenging, because we’ve had such amazing snow conditions here this season that we haven’t had to ski in adverse conditions,” said Vickers. “The only adversity we really had were cold temperatures. We’ve done our best to mentally prepare for every condition.”
The athletes prepare mentally by visualizing themselves in the race and putting themselves in different situations, he said.
Melesko, Stanley and Sigal are three of 12 cross-country skiers across Canada to be selected to compete for Team Canada.
“That says a lot about the athletes we have in our program,” said Vickers. “We’re blessed with some outstanding athletes; all three of them are very gifted athletes, and when we go to the provincial games, we’re a pretty dominant team.”
The team leaves for Toronto on Saturday to meet up with the rest of Team Canada before leaving for Austria on Monday.
“I’m looking forward to the travel and meeting new people,” said Stanley.
Wilkinson will attend the Games as the only snowshoer from B.C. to earn a place on Team Canada.
“I’m excited and a little nervous,” said Wilkinson. “I want to do my best to represent my country.”
Wilkinson’s coach and dad, David Wilkinson, will also go to the World Games next week.
“It’s a chance of a lifetime and it’s a great honour,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing all his hard work pay off.”