Report from the Paralympics: The Gold Medal Game

Last week, Connor Forrest shared his experience from the Opening Ceremonies of the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Winter Games. He’s back from Sochi now with his mom, Ina Forrest, and her Olympic gold medal!

The 2014 Canadian wheelchair curling team with their gold medals.

Connor was there to watch his mom and the Canadian wheelchair curling team in the gold medal game. Here’s what he had to say about the experience.

The gold medal game was against the Russian team and the rink was packed full of all the fans that had come to watch. The first end was in the Russian favour, and they stole two points. The second and third end, Canada came back and tied the game with a steal of one point each end. In the fourth end, Russia had last rock but they missed a few shots and Canada was able to steal another two points. With that little bit of breathing room, the fans were not quit as tense as the first three ends. During the fifth end, Russia still had last rock and again we had a great end and stole one more point. The game was 5-2 for Canada and we were thinking we definitely had a chance of taking home the gold. In the sixth end, Russia had last rock but they still ended up missing a few shots and Canada pulled off a huge steal of three points! This pretty much sent us to the gold medal spot, and with Russia only getting one point in the seventh end, we knew that there was only the tiniest bit of hope for Russia to win gold. In the eighth and final end, Russia did not throw all their stones because they knew Canada had won, so they finished the game early and the crowds erupted in cheering. All the Canadians were cheering as loud as they could.

The whole time at the Games, we knew we had the chance for the gold because our team proved they could in the 2010 Paralympics, but you can never be absolutely sure and many of their games had us on the edge of our seat. After we won and all the ceremonies were over, it took a little while for it to sink in that my mom had just won the curling gold medal for the second time in the row! It is wonderful to see all of the hard work and practice she has put into curling pay off for her and her team in Russia.

We couldn’t agree more, Connor. Congratulations to your mom and her team!

-Kendra, owlblog@owlkids.com