BY BILL PHILLIPS
bill@pgdailynews.ca
It wasn’t for a medal, but it was a photo-finish just the same.
Canadian teammates Brittany Hudak and Emily Young crossed the finish line just seconds apart at the women’s biathlon sprint standing event at the 2019 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships Wednesday. Hudak was slightly ahead, finishing in sixth place while Young finished in eighth place.
The pair, however, were pleased with their performances.
“The course was really fast today, the conditions are really solid here,” said Hudak after the race. “It’s fun, it’s nice to be skiing behind Emily again, it’s kind of like Korea all over again.”
Young agreed that the condition of the race course was second-to-none and enjoyed the warmer weather on Wednesday.
“The conditions were fantastic compared to when it was -20,” she said. “The skis went great, we had fast boards. It was fun.”
The two often push each other to do better when they are training and doesn’t stop when they are in competitions.
“In training, when we have the long workouts that are three to four hours, and you kind of reach a point of it’s feeling long and you’re getting tired, definitely training together makes it more enjoyable,” said Hudak. “And in racing we’re both trying to push each other to the line, which is beneficial.”
“We may be competitors in our category, but we work really well together,” said Young. “I want Brittany to be at her absolute fastest when I’m skiing with her, so there’s some yelling back there … I tend to scream at Brit to go faster so that we can go, go, go … We’re lucky to have that relationship on the team.”
Hudak will be back at it today in the 12.5 kilometre women’s standing biathlon event.