BRACEBRIDGE — Natalia Hawthorn is a champion. The Bracebridge cross-county ski athlete won two silver medals at the Ontario Winter Games in Arrowhead Park this weekend against fierce competition.
On Saturday she came in second in the juvenile girls 800-metre free sprints and on Sunday she won silver again in the juvenile girls 7.5-kilometre classic mass start race.
Hawthorn, racing with Orillia’s Team Hardwood, had placed third in the qualifier for the classic race and was a favourite to medal in that race, but Saturday was her first sprint and still she was just a breath behind the first-place finisher.
“I’m happy,” said the quietly elated athlete minutes after winning her first silver.
“I’ve never done a sprint before.”
After a brief straightaway the athletes hit a challenging incline that spectators quickly dubbed heartbreak hill. Many skiers lost their footing and their place here. Hawthorn said it was the greatest challenge of the race.
“The snow was so loose,” she said. But she kept her balance and her strong start. She gained a place in the hairpin turn right near the end of the race.
“I tried my hardest at the end to catch her (the racer just ahead) and I closed the gap!”
Her spirits were high before the second race on Sunday and she seemed to be having a great time warming up for the race and then powering into her second silver. She finished with a time of 25:04:0, just 2.2 seconds behind the first-place finisher and a full 6.7 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.
Other cross-county athletes from Muskoka competing at the games were Ryan Atwood, Monique Derbyshire, Brady Irving, Robyn Klinkman, Ben Osorio and Cam Raynor.