In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Biathlon Union (IBU) 2018 Youth and Junior World Championships in Otepää, Estonia, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 15-year-old Pascale Paradis, who is representing Canada at her first World Youth Championships.
In her first race, Monday’s 10 k individual, she finished sixth, and on Wednesday in the youth women’s 3 x 6 k relay, Paradis teamed up with Shilo Rousseau and Benita Peiffer to place 10th.
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“My full name is Pascale Paradis but you can call me Pascale.
I was born and raised in Calgary, and I learned to ski in Calgary/Canmore.
I spent the time between World Youth/Junior trials and Worlds going to school and getting ready and training for WYJC.
The funnest workout I did in the last training year to prepare for this was going for a nice ski with my team mate to a back country hut, it wasn’t official training but it was really fun and I was skiing so I was happy. That was with my training partner.
One thing I’m working on this season to improve my biathlon is consistent shooting during races.
This is my first time in Estonia and first time racing internationally, and so far it’s been super cool.
One difference I’ve noticed between Estonia and the Canada is that there isn’t as many moutains and they have really cool different desserts.
One of the things I’m most excited about for World Youth/Junior Championships in Otepää is travelling and exploring a new place.
One race I’m especially targeting there is the pursuit.
Watching the Olympics in the leadup to my own races was helpful to learn from but also stressful because I see how good everyone is.
One of my favorite moments of a Games was when Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek, from Sweden, won her gold medal after after having a not super great season and then she came out of nowhere and surprised me so much and it inspires me that anyone can do well.
I want to be like Tiril Eckhoff because I’ve seen some videos of her and she seems really fun to be around as well as being a dedicated athlete pushing herself to her limits to do as well as she can. I heard she struggles with double vision and I’m amazed that it doesn’t seem to phase her and she just perseveres through all the tough times.
At Worlds, I really hope I can chat/make friends with someone from anywhere is the world and ask them how they feel about racing at a professional level, to see if they feel the same stress I’m sure many of us face before a race, and how they manage it.
My favorite thing at the breakfast where we are staying is how many options there are and how good it is everyday.
Before this trip, if you said “Estonia”, the first thing I’d think of would have been is that a real place?
Now that I’m here, I’m pretty sure something I’ll always remember will be the sunny sun and the fun ski trails and the the insanely steep hill in the course.
If I had a totally free day here and didn’t have to worry about race fitness or training, I’d spend it walking to Finland… haha just kidding but I’d definitely spend it exploring the forest, and I would like to find some mountains (if there are any here) and take pictures of them.
The best way to follow me on social media is on Instagram @pascale234_ or on SnapChat @pascalllieeee”
