Canadian skier wins second bronze

March 18, 2006
CBC Sports

Canada's Colette Bourgonje won her second medal of the Winter Paralympic Games, claiming a bronze in the women's sitting 10-kilometre cross-country race Saturday.

Bourgonje finished in 32 minutes,18.8 seconds, which was one minute 24.8 behind gold medallist Liudmilla Vauchok of Belarus.

Earlier in the Games, Bourgonje captured the bronze in the 5-km sitting competition.

"For me to get on the podium in this group of Ukrainians and Russians and Belarus was huge, so I'm very happy to be on the podium," Bourgonje said after Saturday's race.

"It was a tough race. I worked it hard. I tried not to go out like a rabbit and I think I paced this race better than I paced [my others]. It was a long race," said the part-time Grade 4 teacher. "It was exciting right to the end."

Bourgonje, 44, attributed her success in part to her new sled.

Bourgonje, who is from Saskatoon, is a former national-level cross-country runner who became a paraplegic after a car accident.

The Torino Paralympics are her fifth Games. The two bronze medals she has won there are her first since she captured two silver medals at the 1998 Nagano Games.