By Dan Plouffe
Though they compete in different sports, three local athletes all shared somewhat similar experiences at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games, which officially wrapped up today in Gangwon, South Korea.
For alpine skier Thomas Carnahan, freestyle skier Matthew Lepine and figure skater Kaiya Ruiter, the commonality was that their individual competitions all started better than they finished, but being part of Team Canada was the best part of all.
Carnahan kicked off his Youth Olympics with a top-10 performance in the men’s super-G. The 17-year-old finished ninth in a field of 54 skiers, completing the course in 55.14 seconds – .72 back of the winning time.
From there, he missed gates in both the alpine combined and the giant slalom and then crashed out in the second run of the slalom.
South Korea was the latest stop in Carnahan’s skiing journey, which began when he first learned how to ski in Moscow. He got into competitive skiing in the Alps while his family lived in France (they’ve also lived in Switzerland and Malaysia).
The former Calabogie Peaks racer who won a Canadian U16 slalom title in 2022 now represents a Quebec club called Belle Neige and attends Green Valley Mountain School, a specialized ski school in Vermont.
Carnahan’s final event of the Youth Olympics was a special experience since he got to compete alongside Canadian teammate Aida Draghia from Chateauguay, Que. in the mixed team parallel slalom event.
~~~~~~~~~ Advertisement ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~ Advertisement ~~~~~~~~~
Though they drew a strong French opponent in the opening round and failed to advance to the quarterfinals, Carnahan enjoyed teaming up with a friend he’d met back at a U14 ski camp in B.C.
“This was a great experience,” Carnahan said via the Canadian Olympic Committee. “It was really fun, and great to be with the team. Skiing is a pretty independent sport so this event was a great change and it was really fun to ski with Aida.”
Lepine also enjoyed a solid start at the Games, but the finish wasn’t pleasant at all.
First, there was the highlight of sporting the maple leaf at the site of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.
“The Opening Ceremony and walking out wearing all the Canada gear, and just being here and having all the Canadian fans supporting – it’s been a really cool experience,” Lepine said via the COC.
Competing in his opening men’s ski slopestyle event, the 15-year-old Fortune Freestyle product qualified for the final, but then didn’t execute the run he’d been training for, settling for 10th place.
Lepine had planned to enter men’s big air – the event in which he captured a silver medal at the U19 world championships earlier this season – later on in Gangwon, but he wound up getting injured during training the day before the competition to cut his Games short.
Ruiter, a former Gloucester Skating Club athlete who’s now based in Calgary, opened her Games by placing sixth in the women’s singles short program to earn a spot in the final group of leaders for the free skate.
Riding high from winning her first senior national title just before the Youth Olympics, the 17-year-old loved getting the chance to skate on the same ice where her role model Kaetlyn Osmond won Olympic bronze in 2018.
“Oh my goodness, it was a dream come true,” Ruiter told the COC. “It’s always been a dream of mine to get to come over and compete in Asia because of how celebrated figure skating is here, and to get to skate in that rink that was full of so many people, it was surreal.”
In the long program, Ruiter fell on a triple flip and was penalized for several under-rotations, dropping down to 11th place.
“There were certainly some highlights that I’m really proud of, but not what I was hoping for overall,” she said afterwards. “Skating in the final group – oh my goodness, that was such a win for me.
“Just getting to be a part of that group of some of the most incredible girls in this skating world was just incredible.”
But the best was yet to come for the athlete who became the first woman to win Canadian novice, junior and senior national skating crowns within the span of five years.
The team event was the final competition of the Gangwon Games, and the women’s singles skaters were the ones who would decide the final podium positions.
With Canada already occupying the bronze medal position in the standings following the pairs, ice dance and men’s portions of the event, Ruiter did her job by finishing within one place of the chasing Chinese team.
She scored 54.06 points to easily distance herself from a French skater at 42.32 and finished on the tails of a Chinese skater at 54.36. South Korea topped the event with 13 placement points, USA was second with 12, Canada was third with nine and China fourth with eight.
“This was something that I think we’re never going to forget, ever,” Ruiter said via the Olympic information service. “It’s just the experience of getting to compete as a team and it was just so much fun.
“For all of us, it was just a really special opportunity. We all rose to the occasion and had an amazing time.”
Ruiter’s figure skating teammates and fellow Albertans Annika Behnke and Kole Sauve were selected as Canada’s closing ceremonies flag bearers following their gold medal performance in the pairs competition.
Ottawa’s Lisa Weagle got to enjoy one of the most fun parts of her role as Canada’s chef de mission by breaking the news to them.
“Congratulations to Annika and Kole on this special honour of being selected to carry the maple leaf for Team Canada into the Gangwon 2024 closing ceremony,” Weagle, a two-time Olympic curler, said in a COC media release. “The strength and resilience they showed in the performance that won them a historic gold in pairs figure skating is an inspiration and a shining example of the Olympic spirit.
“They have a bright future ahead of them, and I can’t wait to see how they’ll apply what they’ve learned during their Youth Olympic Games experience as they continue their sport journeys. We are so proud of you, Annika and Kole.”
~ SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM ~
We need your help to keep producing the local sports news you can’t find anywhere else!
