Arendz finally gets gold moment
Canada assured of its best finish
PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA After Mark Arendz missed the top of the Paralympic medal podium four years ago in Sochi, he harnessed that frustration in every training session.
The 28-year-old from Hartsville, P.E.I., won gold in biathlon’s standing 15-kilometre event in Pyeongchang on Friday, finally capturing the one medal missing from his Paralympic collection.
It was his fourth medal of these Games.
“All week, every time I step on that podium, I was thinking to myself that I want to hear those words, ‘Paralympic champion,’ and then my name, and then hear the anthem,” Arendz said. “I’ve seen the Maple Leaf on that podium a few times now with teammates, but to finally be up there myself with that anthem, that’s going to be an amazing feeling.”
His medal boosted Canada’s total to 19, tying the team’s best performance, from Vancouver in 2010. With Canada’s Para hockey team facing the U.S. in Sunday’s final, Canada is guaranteed its best finish.
Arendz, who lost his left arm after he toppled into a grain auger on his family farm at the age of seven, missed gold four years ago in Sochi by just seventenths of a second.
“That .7 has been driving my training for the last four years, and finally to put it together here, to get that gold and by a fair margin, too, that means everything, everything’s come together finally,” he said. “It’s a small thing that made a big impact over the last four years. It was the driving force that made me train on those days that were kind of tough to get out of bed. I said ‘OK, I have to go think about making up that .7.”
Arendz shot a perfect 20-for-20 and finished in 42 minutes, 52.2 seconds. Benjamin Daviet of France took the silver in 43:50.5, while Norway’s Nils-Erik Ulset was third (44:06.7).
“That completes the set for biathlon. The first gold, that means everything to me.”
Arendz already raced to a silver and bronze in biathlon here, plus a bronze in cross-country skiing’s 1.5-kilometre sprint classic.
Collin Cameron of Bracebridge, Ont., started Friday ’s march to the podium, winning bronze in the sitting 15K race. Brittany Hudak of Prince Albert, Sask., added bronze in the women’s standing 12.5K race.
Meanwhile, Canada’s curling team dropped a last-rock decision to China in Friday’s semifinals, and will face South Korea for bronze. China will play Norway for the gold.