Paralympic wake-up call: Canada captures 3 bronze medals to double podium count

Three medals on the first day, three medals on the second day.

Team Canada kept it consistent and doubled its Beijing Paralympics podium count on Day 2 as skiers Alana Ramsay, Collin Cameron and Alexis Guimond posted bronze medal performances late Saturday, early Sunday.

Ramsay started things off at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre in the women's Para alpine super-G standing, successfully defending her PyeongChang 2018 bronze medal in the event.

The 27-year-old Calgary native held off Ebba Aarsjoe of Sweden by just by 0.09 seconds for third place, crossing the finish line in one minute 16.84 seconds.

Ramsay had to overcome a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis after a crash at the 2019 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships to get her hands on a third career Paralympic medal.

"I fell out of love with the sport. It took me a while to get back into it," said Ramsay, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, about the diagnosis, after the race.

"I had to take a whole year off and I didn't get back into training until just before the pandemic hit, which made it even tougher to get back into the sport."

WATCH l Alana Ramsay skis to super-G bronze medal:

It didn't take long for another Canadian to claim a second medal of the night.

Shortly after Ramsay's bronze, Cameron finished third in the men's Para cross-country long distance sitting event at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre to collect Canada's fifth medal in Beijing.

The 27-year-old from Bracebridge, Ont., a three-time bronze medallist in PyeongChang 2018, set a time of 47 minutes 36.6 seconds to add a fourth Paralympic honour to his name.

WATCH l Collin Cameron collects cross-country bronze:

Back at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre, Guimond grabbed Canada's third medal of the night with a bronze in the men's super-G standing.

The native of Gatineau, Que., improved his fourth-place finish in the same event at PyeongChang 2018 by posting a time of one minute 10.02 seconds, just 0.91 seconds shy of gold medallist Liang Jingyi of China.

It's Guimond's second Paralympic medal, having earned bronze four years ago in the men's giant slalom standing race.

Read more about Canada's three bronze medals on Day 2.

WATCH l Alexis Guimond earns men's super-G bronze medal:

Here's more of what you missed on Saturday:

Canada's wheelchair curling team is 3 for 3

Seems like the Canadian wheelchair curling team is living by the 'go big or go home' motto in Beijing.

During Canada's 10-3 win over Latvia to improve to 3-0 in round-robin play, they were faced with two options after an official moved a rock before it could be properly measured to check if Canada was up 1-0 or 2-0 at the end of the first end.

The Canadian squad, led by opening ceremony co-flag-bearer Ina Forrest, could either take one point and move on or replay the first end (in other words, restart the game) and see where that would take them in terms of scoring.

After minutes of discussion, Canada chose the second option. And it payed off, with the Canadians taking a 4-0 lead in the replayed first end.

"Unusual experience in the start with our rock, so we just decided to replay the end, and it was good," said Canada's fourth Jon Thurston. "As a team, we refocused very well and came out and had a very good first and second end.

"It was the first time that happened to me."

Read more about Canada's third straight wheelchair curling win.

WATCH l Canada remains perfect in wheelchair curling with victory over Latvia: