Led by an 11-medal haul from the Snowshoeing quartet of Kylie Hocevar, Mark Sansoucy, Mathieu Gervais and Jason Vautour, the Sudbury Special Olympics contingent did the region proud, participating at the 2019 Sault Ste Marie Provincial Winter Games earlier this year.
Hocevar would claim a pair of gold medals, finishing first in the 100m dash and also as part of the team that claimed top spot in the relay, all while adding a bronze medal in the 200m race to the mix.
Sansoucy returned to Sudbury with no less than four medals in hand, covering the gammut with a gold (200m), two silvers (100m & 400m) and a bronze (relay). Gervais, who fell just shy of the cycle, just missing out on gold, equalled the four medal performance of his teammate, splitting his hardware evenly between silver (200m & 400m) and bronze medals (100m & relay).
Vautour rounded out that grouping with a gold medal effort in the 100m dash.
Meanwhile, the local curling rink of Dominique Perrin, Odette St Gelais, Kenneth Beauvais, Paul Logan and coaches Louise Logan/Jim Logan not only earned silver medals at the competition, but also had the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishment with none other than Olympic gold medal winner and two-time World champion Jill Officer.
Rounding out the local podium placements was talented local figure skater Nadia Bouillon, who placed second in the Level 3 competition in the Sault. Of course, the entire local Special Olympics community is currently busy cheering on Sudbury powerlifter Josée Seguin, travelling to Abu Dhabi as part of the 100+ athlete Canadian team competing at the World Games in the United Arab Emirates.