One of Salmon Arm’s premier athletes has won another medal.
On Dec. 9, Natalie Wilkie won a silver medal in the nordic biathlon event at the World Para Nordic Skiing World Cup in Canmore, Alta.
The second-place finish was 20-year-old Wilkie’s first biathlon podium on the world cup circuit and it came after she won two gold medals in races earlier this week.
For the biathlon, athletes ski five, 2.5-kilometre loops while making stops at the shooting range between each lap. Wilkie was nearly perfect, hitting 19 of 20 shots. Each missed shot is a one-minute penalty, so there’s little room for error.
“This is my first biathlon race in a long time, so I was really nervous coming into it,” said Wilkie. “I have needed to work a lot on shooting consistently… I’m super pumped with the result today.”
She explained her focus was on shooting slow and consistent. She knows increasing her shooting speed is important for upcoming races but she wants to keep the same consistency she has now.
Wilkie has played a large part in helping team Canada rack up a total of 13 medals in their first four races at Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park.
Read more: Salmon Arm’s Natalie Wilkie wins back-to-back golds at Para Nordic World Cup
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