A lot of hard work and training has paid off for a speed skater from Moncton.
Courtney Sarault is bringing home a medal from the ISU World Jr Championships event in Poland.
The 17 year old won silver in the 1500 metre event.
Sarault first started competitive speed skating when she was 7 years old.
Before that, she tried figure skating, but she knew it wasn’ the right fit, “I just wanted to go fast, race and get the adrenaline rush. I saw a poster for speed skating, and I tried it, and I fell in love with it.”
Sarault has been training with the national team in Montreal, and that means a lot of time on the ice.
“I skate six days a week, twice a day. I skate at 8:30 in the morning and then back again at 2:40 in the afternoon. We have gym twice a week, so sometimes we have three training session in just one day. It is pretty demanding.”
Her dream, is to compete at the Olympics someday.
Sarault is in her graduation year at Bernice MacNaughton High School, “They have been very helpful getting me into classes, and helping me to keep up with my studies. The season is almost over for me, so I will be coming back to Moncton to finish my semester and I plan to go to my prom.”
She encourages anyone who is interested in speed skating to try it out, “Keep working hard, and keep training, and then you’ll be able to go to more competitions. If you really like it, you have to take it seriously and do more training, and move up.”
