As many of our athletes saw their competition wind down for these Games yesterday, Our Mission staff and I had the opportunity to see many of them compete one final time. We witnessed moments of pride as we saw athletes perform at their best.  Though some results were not as they would have hoped, the athletes were full of smiles and seemed truly appreciative of all of the support they received from other teams, new friends, family, and volunteers.  

I have heard nothing but positive sentiments from volunteers about members of our contingent and this is such an important part of the Games.  I hope that those who have finished their competition get to enjoy the Games atmosphere during the rest of their time here in Charlottetown and get out to support our athletes who are still competing.  

I had the pleasure of spending the evening at Canada Games House with Team NL Coaches, Managers, and Mission Staff.  It was an opportunity to say thank you for their dedication to their sport and our fine, talented athletes. 

Noah Bolton was back at it today in short-track speeding skating. Today's event was the 1000m race. Yesterday, it was believed he'd qualified for the top-bracket heats, but due to new speed-skating rules, he was in the bottom bracket instead. In his first heat of the day, he posted a 1:41.122, moving him on to the bottom bracket quarterfinal. There, he went out to the lead, but couldn't hold on to it, finishing with a time of 1:45.171. This put him directly into the bottom bracket final, where he had a great race, putting up a 1:43.505 and narrowly missing out on winning his final. Noah will be back on the ice tomorrow for his 3000m points race, his final event of the games.

Team NL Wheelchair Basketball faced off against New Brunswick today. Cass “BAC” had a big game as the defensive juggernaut, that she is! Tomorrow, the team will finish their tournament against Ontario. The team is making the most of their last few days together - rallying on their fellow NL teams, sharing meals and enjoying the entertainment venues. They would like to thank all their friends, fans, and families for the support over the past week. 

Jirah Hiscock made history today and was the first female from NL to compete in uneven bars final. She placed 5th. Way to go Jirah, you represented your province proudly! 

That concludes TeamNLs Artistic Gymnastics competition. 

With no more competition on the schedule, this group will focus on relaxing and taking in what the games has to offer! 

Our female trampoline gymnasts even took some time to do an interview with the NTV News. 

The Ladies Team NL Curling spent today heading around to different Canada Games venues offering  support to our NL athletes still competing.  This is an important part of the Canada Games experience!

The team checked out Wheelchair Basketball at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre and then they were off to Squash at the Eastlink Centre.  They even found time to check out the Canada Games House. 

Today was the last race for some of our team members, the Single Mixed Relay! This event pairs together a female and a male from the same province. They will each be on the trails twice, tagging off with other after every second shooting bout. The males start in Mass Start fashion and end up shooting 20 times (10 standing and 10 prone) over 6km of skiing (4 x 1.5 km laps). The females take the hit in this race and ski 7.5 km while still shooting 20 times. With the longer distance, the female is the Queen of this event! David was paired with Basia, while the other 3 athletes, rested to prepare for the Team Relay tomorrow. By rule we have to split up our athletes for the relays.

We started ranked 18th based on individual results, and finished 16th overall, out of 20 teams. I heard the team had a little cross province rivalry with the Nova Scotia team and we bested them by 1 place (13 seconds!!!) David shot well today, dropping 70% of his targets. Though not her best day on the range, I often hear many coaches commenting on Basia's great ski technique.

The highlight of today was their post race visitor! After entering our team trailer, David and Basia were surprised to receive a visit from Mark Arendz. PEI's own, World Para Biathlon Champion, Paralympic Biathlon Champion and Flag Bearer, and 2023 Canada Winter Games Cauldron Lighter! Mark has numerous World and Olympic medals. He spent about 15 mins with the duo, discussing the race and breaking down the high points and low points. Truly a moment these 2 athletes will remember for their lives.

Oh! the tape on their face is to help prevent frostbite.

The Team NL Men’s hockey have finished their tournament but that did not stop them from enjoying their time here in PEI. Some took in the QMJHL game while others were spotted at various venues supporting our other Team NL athletes as they close out their competitions. The team trainer, Jacob Hill was out in full force cheering on the Wheelchair Basketball team and leading several chants throughout the game. It was great to see the team out to enjoy the games experience. 

After team dinner, they also took in the girls squash game at Eastlink Centre. 

NL Table Tennis had a fun final day concluding the singles event and the entirety of table tennis at the Canada Winter Games. 

The final placements are as follows: Peter Quinlan finished 15th overall with Carter Walters following just behind for boys singles. On the girls side Divine Aseo finished a solid 11th with Ciela Libid only a couple spots behind which is a great improvement over the teams 2019 results. A lot of fun was had amongst the athletes and many friends were met during the Games!

Both squash teams used the confidence their TeamNL teammates brought to the court yesterday in matchups against Team New Brunswick. 

In the early matches, TeamNL males won the team encounter 3 - 1. Later that evening, the female team matched their performance and also beat NB 3 - 1. 

Their performance was certainly helped by many teammates in the stand. All you could hear when you entered the Eastlink Centre was a classic "1 - 2 - 3 - 4 Newfoundland and Labrador"!!!

Both teams finish up matches Saturday to end their Games.