Carolina Hiller might have to declare an overweight carry-on bag when she boards the flight back to Prince George on Friday.
It's going to be stuffed with Canada Winter Games hardware.
"I guess silver is my colour," said Hiller.
The 17-year-old Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club veteran won her second and third silver medals of the Games Thursday on the indoor ice at the Pomeroy Sport Centre in Fort St. John.
Hiller started the day with a silver-medal finish in the women's 1,000-metre race, then won silver in the afternoon in the mass start event.
Geanne Dufour of Quebec set the pace in the 1,000m race, winning gold in one minute 22.27 seconds, ahead of Hiller (1:23.76) and Sara Spence of Kamloops (1:23.80). Abigail McCluskey of Penticton was fourth (1:25.41).
"In that race I got a two-second (personal-best) and I knew it was a good race for me, but I didn't want to get too excited because there were still five races and the other girls after me are really strong as well," said Hiller.
Then in the mass start, an eight-lap race, Hiller waited until Quebec skaters Dufour and Carolane Gingras broke from the five-skater pack with two laps left and took off with them, reaching the finish line third. Hiller's bronze medal was upgraded to silver when Dufour, who finished first, was disqualified for crossing over into the inside lane on the last straightaway. That moved Spence into the bronze-medal position.
"The mass start is my favourite race, it was so fun," said Hiller. "I also do short track and it's kind of like a mash-up between short track and long track and we all have our own strategies."
Hiller qualified for the Games in short track and long track but decided in December she had a better shot at winning medals on the 400m oval. Her prophesy has now come true.
"Coming into the competition I had no pressure at all because I didn't know what to expect, I'm just slowly getting into long track now and I've just been trying to improve my technique the last couple months," said Hiller. "In short track you can kind of get away with not having the best technique because it's more strategy, whereas in long track everyone can see your flaws and your technique has to be perfect to skate your best.
"Now, with three silvers, it's really starting to pay off. Seeing how well it's turned out for me it couldn't have been a better choice."
On Wednesday, after finishing fifth in the 500m distance, Hiller teamed up with Spence, McCluskey and Emilie Medland-Marchen of Kelowna to win silver in the team pursuit.
"The B.C. team is so strong - we're a powerhouse," said Hiller. "It's been awesome skating with them. The ice is really awesome here and we had a huge crowd here today."
Hiller's twin brother Nico placed seventh Thursday in the men's 1,500, won by Lucas Morin of Saskatchewan.
"I was happy with that," said Nico, who placed fourth in the team pursuit and eighth in the 500m individual race Wednesday, after posting a sixth-place result in the 3,000 on Sunday.
Nico was forced to drop out of the mass start race Thursday when his skate got kicked by another competitor, and broke. Tyson Lange of Alberta won gold, Antoine Roger of Quebec claimed silver and Morin took bronze.
Following Sunday's races, the long track events were shifted to Fort St. John due to unsafe ice conditions on the outdoor oval in Prince George. The decision to move the long track events to Fort St. John took 63 skaters and 75 parents away from the other Canada Games activities, but for Nico Hiller the inconvenience was well worth it.
"At least we have the opportunity to skate," he said. "If we didn't move it up here we wouldn't be racing."
Long track competition wraps up Friday morning with the 3,000m women's race and the 5,000m men's event. The athletes are booked on a late-afternoon flight and are due to arrive in Prince George in time for the athletes' party and dance at Prince George secondary school.
