Lake Placid, NY – Shilo Rousseau continues to thrive at the Lake Placid 2023 World University Games, reaching the podium for her second time on Wednesday at Mount Van Hoevenberg.
The University of Ottawa nordic skier picked up her second medal at the FISU Games on Wednesday as she took the silver medal in the Women’s 7.5km sprint, earning Canada’s first silver medal of the Games, and sixth overall.
“Skiing was certainly tiring with the sloppy conditions and the treacherous downhill. I was just trying to stay on my feet, which I did manage to do,” Rousseau told U SPORTS. “It felt pretty hard today, but I am just looking to recover the best I can for tomorrow’s race.”
Rousseau skated the distance in a time of 24:41.20, while Poland’s Anna Nedza-Kubiniec captured the gold medal by crossing the finish line 24 seconds earlier with a time of 24:17.1. Rounding off the podium, Czechia’s Tereza Vandova earned the bronze medal, crossing line 20 second after Rousseau.
The Ottawa native started the race well, particularly with her shooting, similar to what she had done en route to her gold medal to open the biathlon events of Lake Placid 2023.
“It was after the first standing shooting, so after the second shooting, when I cleaned that, I felt really confident that it could be a good day, and I knew I could make it happen,” Rousseau said after her first medal.
While it’s her second medal of the Games, Rousseau also competed with William Moineau in the Single Mixed Relay, finishing in ninth. That podium miss came down to a bad shooting day for Rousseau, yet she regained her form on Wednesday, missing just a single shot.
A member of the Canadian senior development team, Rousseau’s Lake Placid dominance a full circle moment for her family, with her father, Yves Rousseau, who represented Canada from 1980 to 1986, having helped Team USA biathlon athletes ahead of their quest at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid.
Carleton’s Zoe Pekos finished as the next highest Candian on Wednesday in 15th place, with teammate Anna Perry close in behind at 17th to round of the Canadian top-20 contingent. Outside of the top skiers, Danika Burke finished 38th, while Cara Pekos came 39th and Isabella Caza rounded off the Canadian contingent with 41st place.
With a pair of medals around her neck, Rousseau will look to reach the podium again with her Canadian teammates as biathlon continues with the men’s 12.5km, women’s 10km, and the mass starts.