Curling team featuring Fort St. John athlete celebrates undefeated run to Paralympic gold

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Canadian wheelchair curling team celebrated winning gold at the Paralympics in Italy, including a Fort St. John-er.

Competing in her fifth Paralympic Games, Ina Forrest was part of the squad that claimed gold in a 4-3 victory over China in the final on Saturday, March 14th.

Forrest, born in Fort St. John, now resides in the Okanagan, according to her Canadian Paralympic profile.

As the second on a team skipped by Mark Ideson, Forrest’s group went undefeated in the round-robin, claiming a 9-0 record, including victories over the United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, the United States and more.

Then came the semi-final against South Korea. Down in the final end of play, the Canadians curled a final stone to a steal of three points and won by a score of 8-7.

Against China, who they defeated in the round robin by a score of 9-4 in the opening round, Canada broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth and final end to capture gold.

In doing it undefeated, they are the first rink to do so in wheelchair curling – a variation of the ice sport which requires more accuracy due to no sweeping taking place – in Paralympic history.

The 2026 Paralympic Winter Games took place in Milan and Cortina, Italy from March 6th to March 15th.