This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here. They say never to meet your idols.
In the case of Isabelle Champagne, that couldn't be further from the truth. Champagne is a 15-year-old speed skater from Calgary who was competing for the first time in the Canada Winter Games, all the way across the country in Halifax.
She also happens to share a first name with Isabelle Weidemann, the Ottawa native who returned home with a gold, silver and bronze medal from the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
For her efforts, Weidemann was also chosen as Canada's flag-bearer at the closing ceremony. Champagne unsurprisingly looks up to Weidemann, who she often sees during training at Calgary's Olympic Oval on Saturday mornings. "She's just a really good person," Champagne said in an interview with CBC Sports.