U of Ottawa's Shilo Rousseau shines as Canada captures 6 gold medals at at World University Winter Games

When Canada last participated in the World University Games in Lake Placid, N.Y. — then called the 1972 Winter Universiade — the team collected one alpine skiing gold and a silver in men's hockey.

Canada surpassed that total on the sixth day of competition at the 2023 FISU Winter World University Games in Lake Placid, and finished with a grand total of 13 medals at the competition that ran from Jan. 11-22.

While Canada has participated in 26 of the 30 universiades — biannual events that showcase the best student-athletes in 12 winter sport disciplines — dating back to 1960, those 13 medals stand as the second-best Canadian result, trailing only the total of 19 won at the 1985 Winter Universiade in Belluno, Italy.

Overall, Canada's six golds trailed only Japan's 21 and South Korea's 12 in this year's Games, and its 13 total medals tied Germany for sixth on the overall medal table behind Japan (49), South Korea (29), France (18), Poland (17) and the United States (17).

Canada now sits tied for 15th on the all-time medal board with 95, and will be aiming to break the century mark when the World University Games head to Torino, Italy in 2025.

It's not difficult to pick a Canadian star from these Games, as the University of Ottawa's Shilo Rousseau surpassed the 1972 medal-haul by herself, and was named as flag-bearer for Canada when the competition wrapped with the closing ceremonies on Sunday night.

The biathlete collected two golds and one silver last week, beginning with topping the podium in the women's 12.5-kilometre short individual competition on Jan. 14.

The 22-year-old finished 48.4 seconds ahead of Poland's Barbara Skrobiszewska to secure not only Canada's first medal of the Games, but the first ever Canadian podium