Six weeks after her gold medal win at the PyeongChang Olympics, Âé¶čAVâs Kelsey Serwa, along with her fellow Âé¶čAV Olympian Tessa Critchlow, were officially welcomed home Wednesday.
Mayor Colin Basran sat down in Stuart Park with Serwa, who won gold in womenâs ski cross in South Korea in February, and Critchlow, who finished ninth in womenâs snowboard cross, after the athletes signed autographs.
âTodayâs been unreal,â said Serwa. âTo be welcomed up here by such a warm and welcoming crowd is so cool. And to do it with Tess, who competed in the snowboard cross, yeah, weâre so fortunate to come from this community. You can really feel the warmth.â
Serwa told the 150-strong crowd she is putting her original plan to retire from competition this year on hold. She said she plans to return to UBC Okanagan for another semester of study in the fall and then try to convince her professors to allow her to write her final exams a little early so she can compete for one more season on the World Cup circuit.
The announcement from the three-time Olympianâwho also won a silver medal at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games in Russiaâdrew applause from the crowd.
Critchlow said she has not made firm plans about her immediate future but will keep racing and hopes to compete at the next Winter Olympics in four years in Beijing, China and better her finish from PyeongChang.
Two weeks ago she won the Canadian womenâs snowboard cross championship.
Both women said they were happy to inspire other young athletes, many of whom showed up at the park to meet their sporting heroes.
But it was not just the kids who wanted to be there for to Âé¶čAV Olympians.
Cathie Pavlik, a teacher at KLO Middle Schoolâwho taught Serwaâsaid she was very proud of her former student.
âSheâs so great, a good person and a wonderful athlete,â said Pavlik. âShe aspires to all those things you want in an athlete. Sheâs a good role model. Itâs one of those happy endings.â
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Following her chat with the mayor, Serwa showed off both the gold medal she won in South Korea and the silver she won four years ago in Sochi.
Basran told her when he watched on television as she raced in PyeongChang, he could not contain his exuberance as she skied to victory.
âI was shouting at the television and jumping up and down,â he said.
Wednesdayâs âWelcome Home Celebrationâ was hosted by the City of Âé¶čAV and PacificSport Okanagan as an opportunity for locals to take pictures, get autographs and speak with the two athletes.
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