Whistlerite Tyler Mosher is gifted in the arts of adaptive snowboarding, para-Nordic skiing and hyperbole.

After he finished 23rd out of 26 finishers in the 2010 Paralympic men’s 10-kilometre standing classic cross-country ski race on Thursday (March 18), Mosher offered this description of the sport, which has helped him rehabilitate from a spinal-cord injury he suffered in a snowboarding accident 10 years ago:

“Cross-country skiing is like being chased by a grizzly — not for 100 metres, but for 10 kilometres.”

Mosher, the lone Sea to Sky corridor resident in the Paralympic Nordic skiing events, started the 20-kilometre freestyle race on March 15 but skied only five km before intentionally dropping out — the idea being to ski a time trial, which he did in 18 minutes, two seconds.

He finished the 10 km classic race in 41:19.3 despite losing grip on his skis and experiencing what he called a “face plant” just before entering the stadium for the last time.

“I was really surprised I did so well. I’m really happy with the result,” he said.

Mosher then competed with the Canadian men’s mixed-classes relay team along with Sebastien Fortier and Mark Arendz that finished seventh out of eight on Saturday (March 20), and placed 21st in Sunday’s (March 21) sprint event, failing to qualify for the semifinals.

Then again, cross-country isn’t his best sport. Adaptive snowboarding is — he’s the 2009 world champion (see related article).

“I’m really happy to be competing in the company of these great athletes,” he said of the Nordic competition.

Arendz, of Springton, P.E.I., was the top Canadian finisher in the race, placing 12th. Yoshihiro Nitta of Japan was a surprise winner, beating out silver medalist Kirill Mikhaylov of Russia by 32 seconds. Grygori Vovchynski of Ukraine captured the bronze.

Women’s visually impaired 5K

Verena Bentele of Germany captured the fourth of her five gold medals of the Games, finishing 52 seconds head of silver medalist Mikhalina Lysova of Russia and more than two minutes ahead of bronze medalist Tatiana Ilyuchenko, also of Russia.

Canadian Robbi Weldon, guided by Brian Berry, placed sixth; Courtney Knight and guide Andrea Bundon finished 11th, and Margarita Gorbounova and guide Robert D’Arras finished 12th.

Nordic sprint races

Bentele seized her fifth gold medal of the Games, the 12th of her career, by beating out three Russians — Lysova, Natalia Yakamova and Ilyuchenko — in the final. Weldon narrowly missed qualifying for the final, finishing fifth. Knight finished eighth and Gorbounova ninth.

Russia swept the podium in the men’s sitting races as Sergey Shilov captured gold, Irki Zaripov silver and Vladimur Kiselev bronze. Canadian Lou Gibson finished 29th.

Francesca Porcelato of Italy grabbed gold in the women’s sitting event, followed by Olena Iurkovska of Ukraine and Lludmila Vauchok of Belarus. Colette Bourgonje of Canada placed 10th in the final race of her 18-year Paralympic career that included nine separate winter and summer Games appearances and 10 podium finishes.

Nitta grabbed his second straight gold in the men’s standing race, again beating out Russia’s Mikhaylov. Iikka Tuomisto of Finland captured the bronze. Arendz placed ninth, narrowly missing the semifinals.

Jody Barber of Smithers was the top Canadian in the women’s standing sprint, finishing ninth. Canada’s Mary Benson placed 12th. Oleksandra Kononova of Ukraine, Shoko Ota of Japan and Anna Burmistrova of Russia took gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

Biathlon

Barber was the top Canadian in the women’s 12.5-kilometre individual standing biathlon competition last Wednesday (March 17), finishing seventh.

“I’m really happy with my race and how I paced it out there,” said Barber. “On my final shooting, my rifle jammed. I couldn’t see anything and it was all black and we had to fiddle around with that for a while and then used a spare, which I hadn’t zeroed in on and it was right-handed so it was extremely awkward for me. I miraculously shot clean with that, but definitely lost time there.”

Oleksandra Kononova of Ukraine topped the field with a winning time of 46:01.4 in the women’s standing division.

Weldon and Berry finished ninth in the women’s visually impaired race. Alexei Novikov and Jamie Stirling, of Ottawa, finished 10th in the men’s 12.5-kilometre visually impaired race. Arendz was 16th in the men’s standing division, while Lou Gibson of Langley was 18th.