By Clark Stork

Bourgeois brings home bronze medals at Winter Games

Feb 23, 2018 | 4:00 PM

Melfort’s Ashton Bourgeois is now a three-time Saskatchewan Winter Games bronze medalist.

The 15-year-old Grade 10 student at Melfort Unit Comprehensive Collegiate collected a third-place finish in the U-16 slalom Feb. 19. Bourgeois also earned a bronze in the U-16 ski cross Feb. 20. The pair of medals compliment the bronze he brought home from the 2014 games.

“It a great feeling receiving those medals,” Bourgeois said. “I don’t really know how to describe it. Especially being up there with people I’ve skied with my whole life.”

Bourgeois grew up in Melfort playing hockey, but seven years ago he felt he needed a change.

“I wasn’t really happy with hockey, and I always loved going up to the ski with my dad,” he told northeastNOW. “I decided to go out more often and ski for sport. I loved it.”

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Bourgeois’ skiing career began at nearby Wapiti Valley, and eventually he trained at higher levels in Prince Albert. Bourgeois said there are competitive races across Saskatchewan and Western Canada, and he once travelled to Manitoba to compete. After already standing on the podium at the 2014 Winter Games, Bourgeois said he entered this year’s races confidently.

Bourgeois finished with times of 45:58 and 45:86, just 0.4 seconds behind Warman’s Aidan Ohryn, who finished in second place. Unity’s Ashton Brebner won the gold in the U-16 slalom. Ohryn was the gold medal winner in the ski cross final, and Brebner was second.

The young skier will not be able to compete in future Winter Games due to his age, but Bourgeois said he’d like to try his hand at coaching alpine skiing in the area. He said passing along his experience to future racers would be a positive way to give back.

clark.stork@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @ClarkStork