3 P.E.I. athletes doubling up at Canada Games, tackling 2 sports apiece

It's going to be a busy two weeks of competition for three P.E.I. athletes who are competing in biathlon in week one and cross-country skiing in week two.

Fidel Wendt competed in cross-county skiing in the 2019 Canada Games at the age of 14, but will be doing both disciplines at this Games. 

"They don't allow 14-year-olds to carry a gun around, so now I get to do that. So that's fun," Wendt said.

"It's a great opportunity. Both sports have different things to offer."

Wendt said the two sports are quite similar, but at the highest level, the athletes show different skill levels.

"When you see the top-level athletes like the future Olympians ski, they're so much different," Wendt said.

"The cross-country skiers, they can maintain a very equal pace throughout 15 kilometres, whereas biathletes they do two kilometres, and then they [lie] down.

"Biathlon is more stressful because you've got the shooting element, which is sort of like baseball — some days are good, some days are bad, very mental," Wendt said. 

"Cross-country, you get there, you put your ski boots on, you warm up, you go, and then you're done, right? So it's a little simpler."

The other two athletes to tackle both sports for P.E.I. in the Games are Matthew MacNeill and Hudson Haltli. Team P.E.I. also has one athlete, Mava Gauthier, who is competing exclusively in biathlon. 

Long-time biathlon coach Judy Hale is the wax tech for the P.E.I. cross-country ski team for the 2023 Canada Games.

She said having athletes doubling up in the skiing events has challenges, but also a lot of benefits. 

"Some of the challenges for the athletes is doing that many competitions within the span of the Canada Games. They'll be doing nine different races," Hale said.

"But certainly