Salmon Arm’s Natalie Wilkie is considered one of Canada’s best
Para-Nordic skier named Canada’s best female athlete after the 2022 Paralympic Games
Salmon Arm’s Natalie Wilkie was recently named Canada’s Best Female Athlete for her medal-winning performance at the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Games.
The seven-time Paralympian received the award at the 2022 Canadian Paralympic Sport Awards last month.
At the Games in March, Wilkie, 21, won gold medals in both the women’s standing distance (15 kilometers) and sprint cross-country races, silver in the middle distance (10 km) and bronze in the 4×2.5 km mixed relay with Collin Cameron, Emily Young and Mark Arendz.
His Para-Nordic colleague Brian McKeever was named best male athlete.
“It’s a very special feeling to be recognized for my performance in Beijing, which feels like it was so long ago, but also like it was yesterday,” Wilkie said of the Best Female Athlete award. “Probably my favorite part of my gaming experience was the Team Canada atmosphere. Everyone was so excited and excited for each other. Whatever achievement we had, it was an achievement for Canada and that really unified everyone. It was really cool to be a part of it.”
The Canadian Paralympic Committee called Wilkie one of the best in the sport.
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