It was a pretty amazing feeling for Diane Woods.
The North Bay Special Olympian captured a pair of gold medals in both the 100m and 200m Snowshoeing events at the Special Olympics Provincial Winter Games which wrapped up on the weekend in Sault Ste. Marie.
Woods had some special inspiration during those two races. She believes her twin brother Donald, who passed away from cancer in August, was racing with her while she brought home gold.
“It feels good because I won the first one for my brother,” said Woods.
“On August 7th, before he passed away he told me to get a gold medal so I got a gold medal. It felt like he was racing with me.”
Like many of the North Bay athletes, Woods trained hard leading up to the games.
She was one of a handful of local athletes who came home with some serious hardware from Sault Ste. Marie.
Results are as follows:
Snowshoeing
Diane Woods - Gold in 100m, Gold in 200m
Keith Granger - Silver in 400m, Bronze both 100 and 200m, Gold in Relay
Jackelyn Osborne - Gold in 200m, Bronze in 100m and Gold in Relay
Krista Bourdon - Bronze in both 100m and 200m, Gold in Relay
Carley Tucker - Silver in both 100m and 200m, Gold in Relay
Cross Country
Hudson Booth - Gold in Classic Nordic 5K, Silver in 2.5K Freestyle
Alpine
Ben Chain - Gold in Alpine Super G, Silver in Giant Slalom, Bronze in Slalom
Alisha Windsor - Gold in Alpine Slalom, Gold in Giant Slalom, Gold in Super G