RED DEER – The 2019 Canada Winter Games are in the history books.
The host city of Red Deer bid farewell to the athletes, special guests and volunteers during the closing ceremony on Saturday evening (March 2).
Team Alberta had its most successful Canada Winter Games in the history of the event, earning 100 medals over the past two weeks.
Two of those medal-winning athletes from Team Alberta were 19-year-old Kalena Soehn from Red Deer and 15-year-old Mohamed Kamal from Calgary.
Soehn won two medals in trampoline, including a gold in the individual event and a silver in the team event.
“I had so much fun the whole time. Every day there was a new experience and new people to meet,” said Soehn. “Everything was just amazing.”
Soehn was returning to the Canada Winter Games after winning a bronze medal in the 2015 games in Prince George, B.C.
“I was training every week leading up to (the Canada Winter Games). Just to improve my result four years later is great,” she added.
Kamal was participating in his first Canada Winter Games and was thrilled to come home with a bronze medal with Alberta’s men’s squash team.
“This is a fantastic experience,” said Kamal. “We really enjoyed it and all of the athletes will always remember this great experience.”
Red Deer mayor Tara Veer said the city can be proud of its role in the historic Winter Games.
“The Canada Winter Games has proven to be a community effort like no other,” she said. “Red Deer and region has certainly risen to the occasion. Our message to the people of our country and the commitment to our fellow Canadians was that we were ready to host the games with excellence. We hope that our country feels that we delivered on that promise in an exceptional way,” Veer concluded.
