Tri-Cities athletes win 12 gold at Special Olympics BC Winter Games

Tri-Cities Special Olympians bring home 33 medals from BC Winter Games

That's 12 gold, 12 silver and nine bronze from the 2023 competition in Kamloops.

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Coquitlam's Ariel Taylor (middle) raises her hands in celebration with three snowshoeing gold medals around her neck from the 2023 Special Olympics BC Winter Games in Kamloops.Special Olympics BC

The Tri-Cities put on a stellar performance in the Okanagan this weekend, and brought back dozens of hardware to prove it.

A total of 16 athletes from Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody racked up 33 medals from the 2023 Special Olympics BC Winter Games, which took place in Kamloops this past weekend.

This included 12 gold medals, 12 silver and nine bronze in four sports.

Veteran Coquitlam snowshoer Ariel Taylor reached the top of the podium more often than any of her Tri-Cities teammates, winning three golds in the 100m, 200m and 400m races.

There were also 10 others multi-medal winners from the region, all of which earned a spot in the three-day competition through a series of qualifiers between January and May last year.

Successful athletes may soon be heading to the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games in Calgary next year.

This was the first Special Olympics BC Winter Games after a two-year hiatus as a result of previous restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tri-Cities athletes that medalled are as follows: