Need To Know
Mark Arendz, who captured silver in the 7.5-kilometre race on Saturday, is one of Canada’s Ironman at these Games. Between biathlon and cross-country, he will have competed in six events before the Paralympics close on Sunday night.
The three-time Paralympian, who won silver and bronze four years ago in Sochi, aims to become dominant across all events, like the Paralympics’ Roger Federer. “My strength comes in biathlon, but especially my classic on the cross-country side has really been coming up, and the confidence is there in the last few years,” he said. (In classic skiing the skis remain parallel, as opposed to skating events where skiers push their skies against the snow at angles, much like skating.)
Arendz credits Canadian cross-country skier Brian McKeever, who had 11 Paralympic gold medals going into Wednesday’s race, with blazing a triumphant trail for him to follow.
“I’m always learning everything I can from Brian, he has a wealth of experience throughout the years, throughout his experiences at Games and world championships,” Arendz said. “If I can learn at least half of that, to take that away, I’ll be really happy.”
Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press