Canadian cross-country skiers Arendz and Hudak win bronze medals at Paralympics

Brittany Hudak of Canada competes in the cross-country skiing women's 10-kilometre interval start classic standing final at the 2026 Winter Paralympics in Tesero, Italy on March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

LAGO — It was a battle for Mark Arendz, but he managed to squeeze another medal into his collection Wednesday.

The Canadian Para nordic skier earned a bronze medal in the men’s 10-kilometre interval start classic standing race at the Milan Cortina Paralympics. Arendz, from Hartsville, P.E.I., finished in 29 minutes 59.3 seconds at Tesaro Cross Country Skiing Stadium.

Karl Tabouret of France won gold and Raman Svirydzenka of Belarus took silver.

It was Arendz’s second medal of the Games and 14th medal of his career.

“I was battling the conditions for sure and I’m kind of starting to feel the fact that this was the fourth race in five days but I am really happy,” Arendz said. “There was taking the positives from yesterday (men’s sprint classic standing) and I knew I was getting the body ready for a classic race and that really helped.

“I got the speed from the sprints yesterday and relying on the fitness from the weekend. Those all kind of came together for a really hard battle. It was fun to be right there in the middle and just again grinding away.”

The slushy conditions took a little more out of the tank, the 36-year-old said.

“Anything that’s not hard snow is always going to take a lot more energy out of you,” Arendz said. “The steepest climb is three times harder now because we’re having to sink into the snow. You’re not really getting that great positive purchase.

“Every time you go up that hill, it’s just an extra drain on the system. We had to do it four times today with the laps.”

Brittany Hudak, from Prince Albert, Sask., took bronze in the women’s race in 32:01.0 for her first medal in Italy and fourth Paralympic medal of her career. Sydney Peterson of the United States won gold and Vilde Nilson of Norway earned silver.

“It feels so good. I was really happy with my races at the start of the Games and I really feel like my fitness is there, the technique is there. It’s really just kind of putting together a good race,” Hudak said.

“Today, the conditions were tough, but I really just tried to embrace that. I knew it was the same for everyone. To get a bronze medal here feels really great.”

Later Wednesday, the Canadian wheelchair curling team was scheduled to put its 6-0 record on the line against Slovakia.

Canada has won 10 medals so far: one gold, three silver and six bronze.