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By Martin Cleary, Keiran Gorsky & Dan Plouffe
Two different headlines would succinctly describe the all-out performances by six Ottawa-Gatineau athletes Tuesday at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in Italy.
On one hand, wheelchair curler Collinda Joseph and para ice hockey players Anton Jacobs-Webb, Tyrone Henry and Rob Armstrong would fall under this banner: Oh, so good.
On the other hand, the para alpine ski partnership of Kalle Eriksson of Kimberley, B.C., and guide Sierra Smith of Ottawa and para cross-country skier Emma Archibald would have their stories told under this header: Oh, so close.
It was that kind of day for the national capital contingent as the Paralympics headed into the second half of its athletic extravaganza for the world’s best winter athletes with disabilities.
Canada’s wheelchair curling mixed team, which is ranked No. 2 on the globe, used varying methods to defeat top-seeded China and No. 3 Sweden in a gruelling doubleheader and remain undefeated at 6-0 with three games remaining.
After a scoreless first period, the Canadian para ice hockey team counted two goals in each of the second and third periods to turn back Czechia to maintain its perfect record, win its round-robin pool at 3-0 and advance to the medal round.
Eriksson and Smith threatened to make a third straight visit to the medal podium, but they fell five one-hundredths of a second shy of the bronze medal with a fourth-place showing in the men’s visually-impaired alpine combined.
Making her Paralympic debut, Archibald, a University of Ottawa nursing student, powered through the climbs and descents, but had some difficulty on the flats, placing fourth in her semifinal in the women’s sprint classic standing race. She missed advancing to the final by one position.
Big win for Canada over #1 China, big final shot for 3 over #3 Sweden in wheelchair curling
The Canadian wheelchair curling mixed team of skip Mark Ideson, third Jon Thurston, second Ina Forrest and lead Joseph won its first four games – a pair of one-point victories to start, followed by two one-sided matches.
But every member of the team knew Tuesday’s doubleheader against the two countries that surround them in the top-three rankings was critical and would go a long way to determine their medal hopes.
Canada responded with solid play throughout both matches against China and Sweden and lowered the boom in the final end each time for its fifth and sixth victories.
In its evening match, Canada started smartly with one in the first end and stealing single points in the second and fourth ends to reach the halfway point. But then Sweden matched Canada’s approach and even bettered it with one point in the fifth, a steal of one in the sixth and a significant three in the seventh for a 5-3 lead.
Canada owned the hammer in the eighth and potentially final end. Ideson and his teammates were aiming for two to tie and force an extra end or three or more to celebrate its sixth win with the 40-plus national-team fans in the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.
Early in the eighth end, Sweden had two counting stones biting the centre. But Forrest cleared both stones before Sweden put in a counting stone. Canada ignored it to start its chase for the win.
Sweden’s Ronny Persson, however, missed his two shots. Thurston was efficient with his pair of deliveries as the tight game entered the final four stones with Canada owning three well-spaced counting stones.
Swedish skip Viljo Petersson Dahl and Ideson had matching take-outs for each of their two stones, which left Canada recording three points for the victory.
Ideson’s final take-out for three sparked an extended celebration with the noisy Canadian team supporters.
Joseph, who was injured in a train derailment during a high school exchange to France in 1983, continued her strong play as her 14 draws earned a 75-per-cent rating, two perfect takeouts and a shot success grade of 77 per cent. As a whole, Canada had a 77-per-cent accuracy rating and is 71 per cent for the Paralympics.
In its morning match, Canada also was impressive early with two points in the first end and a steal of one in the second. But defending Paralympic and world champion China rebounded with a game-tying three in the fourth end.
Canada took charge again with two in the fifth end and saw China move closer with one in the sixth. The match concluded one end early as Canada struck for four in the seventh and a decisive 9-4 ending.
“It felt like a gold-medal game,” Joseph said in a Canadian Paralympic Committee news release. “That’s the first time I’ve ever been part of a win against that team in international play.
“To have it happen today was incredible. I felt like everybody was gelling and we were just finding everything right today.”
Joseph was graded 89 per cent on her 11 draws and 67 per cent on her three take-outs. Her final mark for 14 shots was 84 per cent.
Canada leads the overall standings in the 10-country competition at 6-0, while China is in second place at 5-1 and South Korea and Sweden share third at 4-2.
Canadian para ice hockey team rises to top challenge of tournament to date
Canada also enjoyed that first-place feeling in para ice hockey as the national team rolled through its three-game round-robin with a perfect nine-point record in Pool B and a plus-25 goal differential.
In its final preliminary game, Canada scored two goals in each of the second and third periods to dismiss Czechia 4-1. The goals were scored by James Dunn of St. Thomas, ON, Vincent Boily of Alma, PQ, opening ceremony co-flag bearer Tyler McGregor of London and Liam Hickey of St. John’s.
On Friday, Canada will play China in the second semifinal, while undefeated Pool A winner and defending Paralympic champion United States will meet Czechia in the opening semifinal. The medal matches are scheduled for Sunday at 7:05 a.m. for the bronze and 11:05 a.m. for the gold and silver.
China and Czechia had respective 2-1 records in Pool A and Pool B.
Rob Armstrong of Ottawa had two of Canada’s 26 shots on goal as well as being a plus-1 in his 14 shifts on the ice, which covered 19 minutes and 24 seconds. Tyrone Henry, who was Armstrong’s second-line defensive partner, recorded one shot on goal in 10:07 of ice time for 11 shifts. Anton Jacobs-Webb of Gatineau earned an assist on Boily’s goal, was a plus-1 and played 12 shifts for 9:48 of ice time.
Para alpine ski guide Sierra Smith misses third medal by 0.05 seconds
After starting their initial Paralympics with silver and bronze medals in the men’s visually-impaired downhill and super-G races respectively, Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith of Ottawa were oh so close to collecting a third straight medal.
Defending champion Giacomo Bertagnolli and guide Andrea Ravelli picked up their second straight alpine combined gold medal with a two-race total of one minute, 56.42 seconds. The combined race involves an opening super-G with a closing slalom test.
Eriksson and Smith were fourth in 1:57.51, which was 0.05 seconds behind Austria’s Johannes Aigner and guide Nico Habell.
The Canadian pair finished in second place in the super-G, but couldn’t maintain that position or a top-three berth in the slalom.
“That’s ski racing. Racing is tight. We were on the wrong side of the clock,” Smith said in a telephone interview with Ottawa Sports Pages High Achievers columnist Martin Cleary. “It was devastating.
“We skied well … and were stronger in the super-G. But we were a little off the pace in slalom.”
Eriksson agreed.
“Today was definitely a rollercoaster day, a Games day that is bound to happen at some point,” he said in a Canadian Paralympic Committee news release. “I’m really proud of how we skied in the super-G. I think we did have a good slalom run, unfortunately we weren’t fast enough and that’s okay.
“We were close to the podium and that’s racing. I’m still proud of how we did today and at the end of the day, fourth is a great result.”
In a season where they only competed in nine World Cup races preceding the Paralympics – Eriksson was hampered by a dislocated shoulder and bruised knee, while Smith dealt with a nagging knee injury – the alpine combined race was almost brand new to them.
“For Kalle and I, that was only the second alpine combined that we have raced,” added Smith, whose bright pink ski suit kept Eriksson’s attention and focus throughout both races. “It’s an experience that hasn’t happened often.
“We took each run as it came. We were ready for the super-G and then switched to the slalom. It’s a hard one that we’re not used to.
“We are super happy with how we skied, but Kalle is devastated as it’s not the result we wanted. We had a lack of training and didn’t ski much slalom. We missed a medal by five one-hundredths of a second, but there’s lots to be proud of.”
Emma Archibald records rock-solid Paralympic debut in cross-country skiing
Emma Archibald has two more rotations at an Ottawa hospital before earning her nursing degree in 2027, but Tuesday belonged to making her debut as a Paralympic cross-country ski racer.
Competing in the women’s sprint classic standing race, she made a memorable inaugural appearance and placed eighth overall. A few seconds faster in her semifinal and she would have raced in the six-skier final.
When Archibald races, she doesn’t use ski poles, but competes against athletes who use one pole or two poles. Born with amniotic band syndrome, she is unable to hold ski poles because she is missing several fingers on both hands and also toes on her right foot.
Archibald finished fourth in her semifinal in three minutes, 53.0 seconds on the 1,139-metre, one-lap course, which left her 3.6 seconds out of third place.
Teammate Natalie Wilkie, who was Canada’s flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony, won the bronze medal in the women’s sprint classic final to earn her 10th Paralympic reward.
After placing 11th out of 17 racers in the qualification round, Archibald learned plenty from the qualifier to apply to her semifinal. As a skier without poles, her classification allowed her to start the race earlier than the single-pole racers, who had a time advantage on the double-pole racers.
“I thought my semifinal went super well,” Archibald explained in a phone interview with Cleary. “I was the lowest classification skier and was out first (from the start line). They pushed me hard as people were catching up to me.
“I would have loved to make the final. I believe I had it in me to make the final. But I’m also happy for (American) Sydney Peterson, who won the silver medal. We are close. But my time will come. I feel like I am right there.”
Ottawa Paralympians in action on March 11:
Day 5 Preview: Cross-country skiing proves to be the proper para sport for first-time Paralympian Emma Archibald
Finishing within a few strides of the women’s standing sprint final in her Paralympic debut offers further proof: Emma Archibald has found the right para sport for herself.
It’s been a long journey to the Milano Cortina Paralympics for the 22-year-old University of Ottawa Gee-Gee nordic skier, but a relatively short climb to a spot among the world’s top athletes in her para cross-country skiing class.
For the ultra-athletic Archibald, it was an unexpected challenge to pin down a sport that would accommodate her. The only Nova Scotian competing at these Paralympics, the Fall River, NS athlete was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome, leaving her with missing digits on both hands and her right foot.
That didn’t stop her competing and succeeding against able-bodied competition all throughout her childhood. Archibald enjoyed soccer, basketball, flag football and track and field growing up.
She even insisted on playing the piano when she was little.
“Emma, really? You’re missing fingers. Is there not another musical instrument you want to play?” her father Stephen Archibald remembered thinking. “That’s just who she is, you know, there’s nothing [she wouldn’t do].”
Just over six years ago, Archibald’s mother Julie spotted a bulletin board post advertising a Paralympic Search event at the Canada Games Centre in Halifax. Roughly equivalent to an RBC Training Ground event, Emma completed a series of isolated fitness tests in hopes of classifying for a late-entry sport. As it turned out, she was identified for seven.
Skiing was not, in fact, her first choice. For all her girlhood success in summer sports, keeping herself balanced in skates and ski boots was another thing entirely. Her preference was her long-held love – track-and-field.
Archibald had to go to Montreal to get classified. She was optimistic going in – officials at the Para Search made it sound like a done deal. But after a long day of muscular, range-of-motion and movement tests, they informed her that she wouldn’t be able to classify.
“I wasn’t missing enough of my feet,” Archibald explained in a pre-Games interview with the Ottawa Sports Pages’ Keiran Gorsky.
Stephen remembers the beginnings of tears in her eyes, just from the suddenness of it all. It seemed to Archibald a bitter confirmation she wasn’t “disabled enough” for para sport. It all came as quite a shock.
But she wasn’t giving up that easily. Cross-country skiing was her next pick, even though Archibald had never done it before. She prepared for a development camp in Canmore with tempered expectations, knowing another classification test could sink her.
Things were different this time. Being unable to push off with her ski poles, Archibald was able to classify in the LW5/7 standing category. It didn’t come so naturally to her as the summer sports she excelled at as a child.
“They’re kind of like sneakers,” she described cross-country ski boots.
That is, they don’t hug your feet like downhill skis. Cross-country skis are long, straight and narrow. When she put them on, she struggled mightily to keep her balance. Any movement threatened to plunge her into the snow.
“I think I had grown up being so natural at so many different sports, so then this wasn’t what I found myself. I found myself very frustrated because I was like, ‘What?’” she said.
Luckily, she wasn’t the only late starter in her early career. When she enrolled at the University of Ottawa, a decision partly informed by their active nordic ski team, Archibald found herself surrounded by teammates of varying abilities. Some had been skiing all their lives and some had only just begun.
It was the ideal environment in which to hone her craft. Instead of discouraging her, the challenge emboldened Archibald to blaze new trails. Each incremental improvement strengthened her resolve to keep going.
You can keep reading this full feature on Archibald here on OttawaSportsPages.ca.
Archibald will have the second test of her Paralympic career to Wednesday when she takes to the start line for the women’s standing 10 km interval start classic event.
Also in action on Wednesday will be Collinda Joseph as she and the Canadian wheelchair curling team will have the chance to officially book their place in the medal round with a late-draw contest coming up against Slovakia.
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