Local athlete’s Paralympics get underway

• Competing in para biathlon
• Missed out on podium

The 2022 Beijing Paralympic Winter Games are underway for Kelowna athlete Emily Young.

Young, a Para Nordic skier, will be competing in a variety of events such as biathlon, cross country, and team relay events in the standing classes.

On day two of the Games, she took seventh place in the women’s sprint in the para biathlon, with a time of 20:31.0 in the six-kilometre race.

China’s Guo Yujie, 17, grabbed the gold medal at 19:43.3.

Young, started Para Nordic skiing in 2014 and made her Paralympic Games debut in 2018 at the Pyeongchang Games. She collected two medals in the cross-country relay and in the women’s standing 7.5-kilometre cross country race.

She was injured in 2009 due to a wrestling accident while training, which gave her a dislocated elbow and a separated shoulder. By 2013, this led to nerve damage running from her neck down to the fingers on her right arm, preventing her elbow from straightening.

Young will be going for gold in other events during the Games which run until March 13.