Although medals weren’t the main focus at the 2012 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games last week, it certainly sweetened the experience when Team Alberta figure skaters managed to nab five during competition.
“We have four gold medals and a silver I think, so this is the most a team from Alberta has won in figure skating,” said head coach Barb Prystai.
She said each of the four figure skaters representing the province skated a personal best, whether they took the podium or not.
“Medals aren’t everything,” she said. “To have everyone skate a personal best and get the medals on top is kind of icing on the cake.”
Special Olympic athletes Meg Ohsada and Kennedy Zaytsoff, both representing Team Alberta, skated their way to the top spot on the podium, each taking home a gold medal in their dance categories.
Zaytsoff, from Strathmore, Alta., tied for first place with New Brunswick’s Janie McGraw in the Level 3 Ladies Dance category. Making this gold-medal win even more special, Zaytsoff said Olympic gold-medallist Jamie Sale presented her with the hardware.
“It was really exciting,” she said. “It was nice and when I got the medal from Jamie Sale, I got to hug her.”
Sale is one of Zaytsoff’s skating idols and she said she will remember the experience for years to come. Prystai said she thinks it will be something that sticks with Sale as well.
“She came when we did practice here, but it was neat for her to see (Kennedy) again and go ‘Oh, way to go. I saw you, I told you about skating and now I get to give you a medal,’” she said.
Accepting the medal from a Canadian skating icon was the highlight of the games for Zaytsoff, but she said another shining moment was being able to skate with her fellow athletes in front of a roaring crowd.
Ohsada, from Canmore, Alta., also shared the spotlight on the gold-medal platform, since both she and Ontario’s Sara McKelvie had tie scores in the Level 1 Ladies Dance category.
She said she was “happy” to take the podium and said she had a good time skating.
Despite returning home with a gold medal hanging from her neck, Ohsada said her favourite part of the Special Olympics was meeting with her friends and making new friends.
There were 45 athletes in total competing in the figure skating events.
