麻豆社区

Fifteen-year-old figure skater Rachel Pettitt saved her best for last.

The Yukon product capped an outstanding season with the best free skate of her life, scoring 76.98 points to propel her to a gold medal at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, B.C.

The medal is the Yukon鈥檚 seventh of the multi-sport tournament.

It is also the first won by a Yukon figure skater in the history of the Canada Winter Games, said Pettitt鈥檚 mom and longtime coach, Trish Pettitt.

The performance pushed her combined score to 115.87 鈥� also a new high. Her total was the highest overall score by skaters across all categories at the Canada Winter Games.

Winning the medal for the Yukon was very meaningful, she said.

鈥淚鈥檓 really proud to be on Team Yukon, and it was so nice to have so many people there supporting me and cheering me on. I鈥檓 so thankful.鈥�

Ontario鈥檚 Alison Schumacher led the competition after the short program after scoring 38.97 points compared to Pettitt鈥檚 38.89.

Schumacher鈥檚 top-place ranking meant she was the final skater to complete her free program after Pettitt.

However, Schumacher was unable to match Pettitt鈥檚 flawless skate at Lakewood Dental Arena, stumbling briefly on her way to a score of 70.10, relegating her to a silver medal.

British Columbia鈥檚 McKenna Colthorp took bronze.

After Schumacher received her final scores, Pettitt graciously entered the kiss-and-cry area to embrace her Ontario rival.

Battling nerves prior to her skate, Pettitt said the large crowd actually settled the butterflies.

鈥淚 was quite nervous going into my free program, I鈥檓 not sure why,鈥濃�坰he told the Star. 鈥淏ut I got out there and I鈥坰aw the big crowd and I鈥坰aid: 鈥楴o, this is good. I鈥坙oved the crowd.鈥欌��

Pettitt said she had trouble sleeping last night as her latest major victory slowly began to sink in.

鈥淚鈥檓 keeping my medal in my pocket,鈥� she acknowledged. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty exciting.鈥�

Last month, Pettitt became the first Yukon figure skater in history to win gold at the Canadian championships in Kingston, Ont.

There, she scored 75.87 points in her free program 鈥� then a personal best 鈥� skated to the music of Lara鈥檚 Theme from Doctor Zhivago.

鈥淚鈥檓 really, really happy with how my season turned out,鈥� she said today. 鈥淟ast year, I had a few ups and downs, but that鈥檚 what training is all about.鈥�

As of press time today, the Yukon held down eighth place in the medal standings, ahead of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Prince Edward Island and Nunavut.

Whitehorse fans will have a chance to witness the national champion in action at the Canada Games Centre on March 7.

Pettitt, along with Yukon pairs skater Bryn Hoffman and partner Bryce Chudak, will be part of the Arctic Edge Skating Club鈥檚 Ice Show.

They, along with local skaters and members of the Special Olympics team, will perform at 2 and 7 p.m.