Canadian para alpine team wraps competition with 10 medals

PYEONGCHANG, KOR (March 17, 2018) — On the final day of racing at the 2018 PyeongChang Paralympics, Mollie Jepsen captured her fourth medal in five events, winning silver in the women’s slalom.

Jepsen’s silver finish brought the Canadian para alpine team’s medal count into double digits. The team won 10 medals in total: three gold, one silver and six bronze. Read more about the para alpine team’s medal haul in PyeongChang.

For Jepsen, her slalom result was an unexpected surprise.

“I really didn’t expect to be standing where I am, especially in slalom,” the 18-year-old up-and-comer said. “Just as I did in my super combined race, I went into it with no expectations and tried to have fun. I don’t ski a lot of slalom, so I think the lack of intensity took some stress off for me and I was able to just ski.”

Jepsen (West Vancouver, BC) was in second place going into her second run of the day. She pushed the whole way down and was able to cement her place on the podium with a combined time of one minute, 59:59 seconds. During her second run, Jepsen found herself losing ground at the second split. She recognized it and turned on the afterburners for a strong final section.  

“I kind of knew I was getting tossed around a bit midway through the course,” she said. “There were some ruts and it was challenging, so I set a goal of each gate in front of me, refocused, and just went full gas again.”

For Jepsen, it hasn’t quite sunk in yet that she’s a four-time Paralympic medallist. Earlier in the Games she won gold in super combined, bronze in downhill and bronze in giant slalom. A rookie on the World Cup circuit, she came into the Games looking to simply gain experience, and instead walked away with a suitcase full of hardware.

 “I don’t know if I’ve processed it,” she said. “It has been incredible.”

The newly minted Paralympic champion has pretty straightforward plans for the near future:

“Probably sleep for a few days,” she joked.

Alana Ramsay (Calgary, AB) and Erin Latimer (Toronto, ON) both posted top-10 results. Ramsay was sixth and Latimer was 10th. Frederique Turgeon (Candiac, QC) skied out during her second run and did not finish, while Mel Pemble (Victoria, BC) did not finish her first run.

ALL CANADIAN RESULTS: Women’s slalom, PyeongChang, South Korea

2 – Mollie Jepsen (West Vancouver, BC) – Women’s standing
6 – Alana Ramsay (Calgary, AB) – Women’s standing
10 – Erin Latimer (Toronto, ON) – Women’s standing
DNF 2nd run – Frederique Turgeon (Candiac, QC) – Women’s standing
DNF 1st run – Mel Pemble (Victoria, BC) – Women’s standing

Click here for detailed results

Contact:
Kelsey Verboom
Paralympic para-alpine media attache
kverboom@alpinecanada.org
+82 10-446-18075