International
Eleven Canadians hit the scoresheet in convincing 5-1 victory over Czechia
Biathlete Shilo Rousseau (Thessalon, ON) made history Saturday afternoon at the 2023 FISU Winter World University Games by winning gold in the women’s 12.5 km individual race at Mount Van Hoevenberg.
The fourth-year University of Ottawa student’s medal marked the first for Canada at the 2023 FISU Games. It is also the first time Canada has medaled in biathlon since they introduced the discipline in the FISU Winter Games program back in 1989.
“It feels really great, I’m really honoured to have the first gold medal, and hopefully the first of many to come for Team Canada,” said Rousseau. “After each shooting belt, I would hear my name called. After my second shooting, when I cleaned that, I felt really confident in my shooting, and I knew it could be a good day and that I could make it happen.”
Rousseau dominated the field today, finishing with a time of 42:52.9, almost 50 seconds ahead of Barbara Skrobiszewska (Poland), who finished second. On the range, she hit 18 of her 20 shots.
“The race clearly went really well,” continued Rousseau. “The course was nice and hard-packed. It was a lot nicer than what I was expecting given the conditions and that we were racing after the men. Before the race, I was kind of nervous, I wasn’t sure how I would stack up against the competition, and shooting, I had not done too many biathlon races this year. I just tried to calm the nerves and have a nice, solid race.”
Rousseau is next in action on January 16 for the single mixed relay, set to start at 2:05 p.m. EST.
Results of the 2023 FISU Winter Games can be found here. Catch all of the action on TSN.ca or the TSN app.