Winnipeg's Maddy Mitchell wins 12 gold medals at Western Canada Summer Games
Mitchell, 17, has most medals ever won by one Manitoba athlete at games
Winnipeg's Maddy Mitchell has won 12 gold medals in canoeing at the Western Canada Summer Games, making it the most medals won by an individual Manitoba athlete at the games.
The 17-year-old says she's excited with her medal haul from this year's games, which run Aug. 7-16 in Alberta's Wood Buffalo area and features athletes from the four western provinces and three territories.
"It feels really good. I never would have thought that I would have won all of them — maybe a few — so I am very proud of that, and very proud of the whole team," Mitchell told CBC News on Tuesday.
She said the most intense race was the solo five-kilometre race.
"It was the third day of racing. Everyone was super-tired, including myself," she said.
"I was worried when some of the girls were catching up to me on the turns. I know lots of spectators were getting getting nervous and so was I. But in the end, I won."
Mitchell's twin sister, Emma, competed with her in four of the 12 races and won silver in two separate kayak races.
'Emotion was coming up and down,' says coach
Mitchell's coach, Jerome Seremak, said he is very proud of her and the team.
"Lots of tears were coming from parents and emotion was coming up and down, it was very exciting," he said.
Seremak said Mitchell's team went so fast, he could tell it was over for the losing team 100 metres in. Her final competition — a 500-metre race in a 15-person war canoe — was last won by Manitoba in 1983.
Mitchell is still in high school, but she said she will only attend one semester at school this year so she can focus the rest of her time training. In two weeks, she is off to the national championships.
"It's thrilling for me. It's very exciting to watch," said Ted Bigelow, chef de mission with Team Manitoba, who has known Mitchell for at least four years.
"I think it's a testament to the effort they put in those quiet times. There are long, cold winters and the women make sacrifices, and the reinforcement is fantastic."
As of late Tuesday afternoon, Manitoba was in fourth place in the medal standings with a total of 98 medals.