by Larry Tomie
I’d like to tell all Soo Finnish members about my recent trip to the International Paralympic Nordic Skiing World Cup in Canmore, Alberta. A little over 3 weeks ago I met Jessica Tuomela. Jessica is a 3-time Olympian in swimming and after a brief retirement from competitive sport realized that she still wanted to compete. So she traded the Speedo and chlorine for winter gear and the great fresh air.
Cross Country Canada and Cross Country Ontario were thrilled at having Jessica take on Nordic skiing and invited her to a training camp in Canmore. The camp was followed by a series of World Cup races. It was important for Jessica to attend the camp and finish a race to finalize her classification process as a visually impaired athlete.
My role was to be her guide and coach. We were extremely lucky to be able to get out on snow a few times before going to Alberta.
Fortunately, Jessica had been a Jackrabbit skier and could remember the basics. At the camp, we were taught the best way to communicate and a few great tricks for taking on the downhills.
The World Cup races were being used by many countries to finalize their Olympic teams and were attended by athletes from Argentina, Brazil, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Norway, Russia, Sweden, United States and Canada.
We chose the Classic sprint race as our debut and made it to the finish! Erika Mihell lent Jessica her SFN race suit and so we looked great. We got positive comments about the suit colours from many athlete and coaches. (Kudos to the Mallingers)
Watch for us on the trails, we’ll be easy to spot with our yellow vests!