Arendz collects 10th medal of career

Mark Arendz set the bar impossibly high by climbing the medal podium in every one of his six races at the Pyeongchang Paralympics in 2018.

It was a Canadian record for medals won at a Winter Paralympics.

And so, a fourth-place finish in the standing 20-kilometre cross-country ski on Monday didn’t sit well with the 32-year-old from Hartsville, P.E.I.

Arendz rebounded with a victory in the 10-km standing biathlon event at the Beijing Paralympics on Tuesday, with one of the most dominant performances of his career.

“It fuelled I think that determination to do better today,” Arendz said. “I do set the bar quite high. (But) after good races, bad races, I seem to always have another race. So, I’ve kind of gotten used to or familiar with that idea of taking both the highs and the lows of different races, and then being able to go to the next one and say, what does this race need? What is my focus for this race?”

Arendz skied to a time of 31 minutes 45.2 seconds, and was the only athlete in the field to go a perfect 20-for-20 on the shooting range.

His gold was his second medal in Beijing, after bronze in the 6K biathlon, and the 10th medal of his career.

It was Canada’s only podium performance on Tuesday, bringing the team’s medal total to 13. China leads the way with 27, while the Ukraine team, which arrived in Beijing after a harrowing four-day journey amid the Russian invasion, is second with 17.

Arendz is among the busiest athletes at the Games, with three races remaining. To mimic his gruelling schedule at the Games, he trains in blocks of back-to-back-to-back time trials within a short period of time.

“And every day, it’s about just making sure that after the race, every bit of energy goes into being smart and being efficient with all the different tools that I have at my disposal, whether that’s physiotherapists, light jogs, things like that, that help me just flush the legs out and refresh for the next morning,” he said.

Without another race until Friday, he looked forward to sleeping in.

On the heels of a bronze medal on Monday, Brittany Hudak, of Prince Albert, Sask., finished sixth in the women’s 10-km standing classification.

Canada’s para hockey team clinched a spot in Friday’s semifinals, with a 6-0 victory over South Korea. James Dunn had a hat trick and an assist, while Tyler McGregor, Billy Bridges and Liam Hickey each had singles.

The Canadians will face the winner of the qualifier between South Korea and Italy in the semis.

Arendz’s gold was Canada’s only podium performance on Tuesday, bringing the team’s medal total to 13