Meet the Sudbury nordic ski coach who trained 2 Paralympians

As Canada's team prepares to return from the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing, Sudbury's Patti Kitler is celebrating the successes of some athletes she helped reach the international stage.

Kitler founded Laurentian Nordic Ski Club's para nordic ski program in 2006. Two of the athletes she's trained are Beijing 2022 Team Canada Paralympians: Collin Cameron and Christina Picton.

Coaching is a calling, said Kitler, who has trained athletes and built sport clubs since 1982, mostly with Olympic-stream athletes. She began working with para athletes in the early 2000s.

"I get emotional because all those athletes are performing at their best, and just seeing their quality of effort, 110 per cent, is just amazing," Kitler said.

She has coached a half-dozen para athletes to the World Juniors and helped many more reach regional, provincial and national competitions.

Kitler's coaching legacy in Sudbury began with Tanya Quesnel. Quesnel was one of the first para nordic skiers Kitler worked with in Sudbury, and her tutelage helped Quesnel reach three Canada Winter Games, along with international competitions.

Quesnel said skiing has changed her life but Kitler's guidance has had an even greater impact, both for competition and in her personal life. Kitler and Quesnel, now good friends, continue to ski together.

"She's very dedicated to her athletes and she'll find different strategies to make it work," Quesnel said.

Sudbury's Kivi Park is the location of choice for Kitler. She said the park is accessible and has supportive management that support the para athletes.

Growing up in Thunder Bay, Kitler did not start nordic skiing until she was 25. She moved to Sudbury in 2000 and continued to coach Olympic-stream athletes in her