Local athletes set to showcase skills on world stage

Some Canadian athletes with ties to the Interior will get a chance to perform at the 2022 Beijing Olympics in the coming weeks.

Tess Critchlow of Big White will be the first to perform this week when she participates in the women’s snowboard cross event.

Critchlow earned ninth place in snowboard cross at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.

The women’s snowboard cross begins with the seeding runs at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 8, and the final at 11:45 p.m. All times listed are PST.

Kevin Hill of Vernon will be participating on the men’s side of the snowboard cross.

Hill placed 14th in the event in the 2018 Olympics, and came in eighth at the 2014 games in Sochi.

The seeding runs for men’s snowboard cross will go at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 9, and the finals will be held at 11:15 p.m. that same day.

Critchlow and Hill are also a members of Canada’s Mixed Snowboard Cross Team. That event will begin on Friday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.

Former gold medal winner Justin Kripps of Summerland will be back on the track for the two- and four-man bobsleigh runs.

Kripps won gold in the two-man event in 2018, and in 2016 he and his partner came in sixth. Kripps and his team placed sixth in the four-man race in 2018, 29th in 2014 and fifth at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

The two-man bobsleigh races will begin on Monday, Feb. 14 and go into Tuesday. Feb 15. The four-man races will be held on the following Friday and Saturday.

Emma Lunder of Vernon has finished her run at the Beijing Olympics.

Lunder placed 67th in the women’s 15-km individual biathlon. She and Team Canada also placed 14th in the mixed relay 4×6-km event.

In the 2018 Olympic Games, Lunder placed 54th in both the 15-km and 7.4-km sprint events, came in 53rd for the 10-km race, and was part of the team that came 10th in 2018.

Elena Gaskell of Vernon was supposed to participate in the Women’s Freestyle Skiing event, but had to withdraw due to a knee injury.

Other athletes with ties to the region in these Olympic Games are hockey players Landon Ferraro and Adam Tambellini.

Ferraro was born in Trail, B.C., and Tambellini is a former Vernon Viper. It will be the first Olympic appearance for both these players.

Men’s Olympic hockey begins on Wednesday, Feb. 9 with the Russian Olympic Committee facing off against Switzerland at 12:40 a.m.

Canada’s first game is slated for Thursday, Feb. 10 at 5:20 a.m. against Germany.