Jepsen golden in dramatic debut
West Vancouver teen skis to top of podium in her first two-race super combined event
JEONGSEON, Korea, Republic Of — Mollie Jepsen made the most of her super combined debut at the Pyeongchang Paralympics.
The 18-year-old from West Vancouver skied to gold in the standing category Tuesday in her first attempt at the two-race event.
“I haven’t raced a super combined ever,” said Jepsen. “Not World Cup, not Europa Cup, not anything. So my expectations were quite low, which I think took some stress off, that kind of helped me almost.”
Jepsen added to the bronze she captured on the opening day of the Games.
Alana Ramsay of Calgary won bronze on Tuesday to add to the bronze she claimed earlier in the Games. Their medals boosted Canada’s total to 10 with five days of competition left.
Jepsen said sharing the podium with a teammate was “super awesome.”
“The team has worked so hard the past few years, really putting in the time on and off snow, so it’s just great to have as many Canadians as we can up on the podium, especially sharing it with Alana,” she said.
The Canadian team is aiming to top the 16 medals won four years ago in Sochi.
Jepsen, whose career has been hampered by two torn ACLs and a broken ankle, said she had just two words in her head when she crouched in the start gate for both the super-G and slalom races: be aggressive.
Mac Marcoux of Sault Ste-Marie, who won gold in the downhill, fell in the super-G portion of the men’s visually impaired event and did not finish.