Para nordic skier Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm, B.C., ended her third Paralympic Games the same way she started them—bearing Canada’s flag. After winning four medals in Italy, Wilkie became the first Canadian athlete to carry the national flag at both the opening and closing ceremonies of the same Paralympic Games. The honour was announced Saturday by the Canadian Paralympic Committee, which also named wheelchair curler Mark Ideson of London, Ont. as co-flag bearer. “It’s definitely a big honour,” Wilkie, 25, said in an interview with CTV News. “I just feel like that completed my experience, kind of like bookending the Games a little bit with those flag bearer duties.” The honour caps a medal‑filled stretch of competition at the 2026 Milano Cortina Paralympic Games, which ran from March 6 to 15.Wilkie took home gold in the Para biathlon women’s standing individual and sprint pursuit, silver in the women’s standing sprint and bronze in the Para cross‑country women’s standing sprint classic—bringing her career total to 11 Paralympic medals. She says the results exceeded her expectations.“Obviously I went into the Games, you know, hoping for podiums and results. But I feel like it’s never a guarantee,” Wilkie said. From ‘the baby’ to a role modelWilkie made her Paralympic debut at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in South Korea at age 17, just 18 months after losing four fingers in a Grade 9 wood shop class accident. Being the youngest member of the Canadian Paralympics team, she remembers leaning heavily on her teammates for support, guidance and wisdom. This year, she embraced the opposite role. “I was able to offer a bit more guidance and set an example as a role model,” she said. “I hadn’t had the opportunity to do that before because I’ve always been the baby of a team, so I really enjoyed that experience.” Her evolution reflects a competitive shift, too. In the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing, Wilkie says her focus was primarily cross‑country. She won two golds, silver and bronze at those Games, just as she did in Italy four years later. At the most recent Games however, she won her first medals in biathlon, a sport she’s leaned into over the past two years. And they weren’t just any medals—both were gold. “The two golds, the silver and the bronze…it feels kind of surreal to be repeating that,” Wilkie said. “But I mean, it’s a culmination of four years of work to get to this point, so to have, four medals to show for it is pretty awesome.” Even with 11 Paralympic medals, Wilkie says there’s still room to grow: “You’d think dropping one pole wouldn’t make that big a difference,” Wilkie says, referring to her transition from able-bodied skier to a Para nordic skier. “But it took me a long time to learn the technique, and I feel like I’m still learning today.” Salmon Arm pride Through the highs of the week, Wilkie says messages from home have been both “crazy” and heartwarming. “Salmon Arm is such a small, tight-knit community…I think (my accident) hit the community pretty hard” she explains. “So then to see me go on to the Paralympics and succeed…I think that really did hit home with a lot of people.” Wilkie is returning home with one thing in mind. “I’m definitely ready for some rest,” she laughed. With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Shannon Patterson
