This has been a sweet and significant week for Owen Sound skier Larisa Yurkiw.
Almost two years ago in a World Cup training run at Val D’Isere, France, Yurkiw crashed.
She’d fallen before, been disqualified before, run off course before, but this crash was staggering; the impact leaving her with a badly damaged leg and knee, the very appendages that physically allowed her to be at the highest level in skiing.
How bad was the damage ?
So bad that recovery and rehabilitation stretched almost two years in length and had more twists in the course than many of the slopes she competes on.
Finally, this week, Yurkiw returned to competitive skiing, racing at the NorAm Cup in Alberta.
True, the NorAm Cup is far below where she once was, but make no mistake it’s challenge especially for someone who hadn’t swished around a gate in almost two years.
In her first go at it on Tuesday, Yurkiw made a tactical error on an early pitch, skiing off course and ended up with a DNF result.
Still, her miscue was a technical error and not a case of the yips, so a battle was won there.
The following day, she scored a Top 5 finish and one could only imagine the sense of accomplishment and the sense of joy having her National teammates on hand to root for her.
Then yesterday, Yurkiw’s return was marked with an exclamation mark as she won the Super G portion of the Super Combined.
There’s a long road between now and a return to the World Cup circuit, but someday Larisa Yurkiw may look back at the 2011 NorAm Cup at Alberta with special affection.
Have a great weekend.
I’m Fred Wallace