Canada's Mollie Jepsen crouched in the start gate on Saturday knowing her four years of Paralympic preparation had not gone nearly as planned.
After capturing four medals in a stunning Paralympic debut in 2018 in Pyeongchang, Crohn's disease sidelined her for all of the following season, saw her in and out of hospital and robbed her of precious muscle strength.
And then finally in remission, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, grounding Canada's Para ski team for the better part of two seasons.
But the 22-year-old from West Vancouver, B.C., saw the silver linings in her forced break, and turned them into gold on Saturday, racing to both Canada's first medal and victory of the Beijing Paralympics.
"Being able to spend a lot of time training at home was actually hugely beneficial," Jepsen said of the past two years. "I've raced a lot in my life because I was racing able-bodied before I went onto the Para circuit, and so I felt comfortable taking a step back, and training in the pandemic allowed us to go very far back to basics.
"I think on race day, it was all that trust and confidence in yourself, knowing that you've really put in the work. I saw a lot of great silver linings in what's happened ... and came out a lot better and stronger."
Jepsen's gold was the first of three medals for Canada on Day 1 of the Games. Mac Marcoux of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., captured silver in the men's downhill, while Mark Arendz of Hartsville, P.E.I., opened his busy Paralympics with a bronze in the men's 6-kilometre biathlon.
Jepsen recorded a time of one minute 21.75 seconds on the Yangqing Alpine Centre course. China's Zhang Mengqiu took silver and Sweden's Ebba Aarsjoe earned bronze.
The four-foot-eight skier, who was born missing three fingers on her left hand, began skiing with her family at age two, but it's been a rocky career. She broke a wrist as a child, and then tore the anterior cruciate ligament twice in her left knee as a teenager.
The Canadian team was in Norway when the pandemic struck in early 2020. The skiers were sent home. It would be months before they'd be back on snow training. Jepsen set up a gym in her family's home in Whistler, B.C. She and her teammates didn't compete again until this season.
The emergence of Omicron a few weeks ago had Jepsen and the rest of Canada's Paralympic athletes worried they'd even get to the starting line.
"Honestly, (I said) if we get there as a team, safe and healthy, that's a win in itself, and touring around the village together the first day we got here, and to be here as a team and healthy and be together is just an amazing feeling. Everything else is just the icing on the cake right now," she said.
Racing for the first time in more than two years, Marcoux was also feeling grateful. The 24-year-old has battled herniated discs in his back since he captured gold in the downhill in Pyeongchang.
"This has been mentally probably one of the more challenging weeks I've ever had racing, just getting here and with all the uncertainties over not racing over the past two-and-a-half years, it just builds a lot of doubt in your head," Marcoux said.
"Just trying to get dialed in before race day, there was lots of ups and downs throughout even just the week. We are beyond happy just to have one race under our belts and be able to breathe a little bit."
Racing in the visually impaired category, Marcoux and guide Tristan Rodgers finished in 1:13.81. Austria's Johannes Aigner won gold (1:13.45), while Hyacinthe Deleplace of France earned bronze (1:14.10).
Having Rodgers ahead of him in the start hut helped settle the nerves.
"Obviously we've had a lack of racing, but I just reminded Mac to rely on his experience and all of the downhill courses that he's been able to ski on and using that to his advantage and yeah, keeping a cool head in the start," Rodgers said.
Marcoux was raised on a diet of adrenalin sports from go-carts to dirt bikes to snowmobiles. He began losing his vision at the age of eight, however, to Stargardt’s disease. He was legally blind by nine, although he has some peripheral vision.
Marcoux and Rodgers reach speeds of 100 kilometres, with just a couple of ski lengths separating them. They communicate via mics in their helmets.
Arendz, meanwhile, captured his ninth career Paralympic medal with a biathlon bronze. Battling blowing conditions that made for a challenging day of shooting at the Zhangjaikou National Biathlon Centre, the 32-year-old finished in a time of 17:13.6 in the standing race.
"It feels really good to get that first one under the belt. There are always a little nerves, but I really wanted to set the tone for the week and get that first podium," said Arendz, who was Canada's flag-bearer at the closing ceremony in Pyeongchang.
Arendz lost his arm on his family’s farm when he was seven. They were transferring grain to a truck via an auger — a long metal tube with a spiral blade that moves the grain like an elevator. He noticed some grain wasn’t loading, and thinking he’d help it along, reached out his hand and lost his balance. The augur pulled him in up to his shoulder.
On Saturday, the four-time Paralympian was sent to the 150-metre penalty loop twice after missing a shot in each of his two rounds on the range. But his speed kept him close to the frontrunners on the three ski laps, which bodes well for his straight cross-country ski events later in the Games.
"I am taking great confidence from this race, knowing that I was still skiing very close to the best guys who are very fast and were clean – even with my two misses," said Arendz, who captured a gold, two silver and three bronze in 2018.
Grygorii Vovchynskyi, who's part of a 20-member Ukrainian team that made a harrowing four-day trip to Beijing after Russia's invasion of their country, won the gold. Marco Maier captured the silver.
Canada's wheelchair curling team opened the Games with a pair of victories, beating China 7-3 then Switzerland 8-4.
Led by Ina Forrest, who carried the flag alongside Greg Westlake in Friday's opening ceremonies, the Canadians won curling gold in 2010 and '14, and are looking to reclaim top spot on the podium after finishing third in Pyeongchang.
Canada's Para hockey team dropped a 5-0 decision to rival United States in Saturday's opener.
The Americans, who edged Canada in overtime in a heartbreaking gold-medal final four years ago, outshot their opponent 26-9.
"We need to focus on creating more offence and better scoring chances," said Canadian coach Ken Babey. "We need to be a little more accurate with our shots and make sure we hit the net when we do have scoring opportunities. We need to realize that we are a bit of the underdogs in this tournament and that we are going to need to fight for pucks and find ways to score."
The hockey players were hit hard by the pandemic also, limiting their pre-Paralympic exhibition games to half a dozen. They'd normally have 25 to 30 games under their belt.
Canada next faces South Korea on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2022.
Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press
