Jamie Macdonald, a short track speed skater raised in Fort St. James, has made Team Canada for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Macdonald clinched a spot on the Olympic roster on Sunday in Montreal, which was hosting Speed Skating Canada's short track team selections. The 22-year-old took the second of three qualifying positions for the women when she placed second in a 1,000-metre race and fourth in a 500.
"I can't believe it for now, I'm still a little bit overwhelmed," Macdonald said on the Speed Skating Canada website. "It hasn't quite hit me. But it's incredible. We'll have a very strong team, I'm so proud of these girls. We all push each other so hard in training, and we've all worked so hard over this summer.... It'll be an incredible experience for all of us.
"I stayed very consistent throughout the whole competition, so I'm very proud of that," she added.
The other women on Team Canada are Sherbrooke's Kim Boutin, who qualified first, and fellow Quebecer Kasandra Bradette of Saint-Felicien. At the conclusion of the five-day selection competition, Macdonald and Bradette both had 30,400 points but Macdonald was awarded the second spot by virtue of a tiebreaker. Each skater had nine races in total - three 500s, three 1,000s and three 1,500s.
Macdonald was ranked sixth overall in Canada after the 2016-17 season so she made great strides in grabbing the No. 2 spot in Olympic qualifying. Last season was her second on the World Cup circuit and her first as a full senior national team member.
One of Macdonald's top races is the 1,500. Last November in Salt Lake City, she set a new Canadian record of two minutes, 16.635 seconds in the distance. She's also a standout at 500m, a distance in which she's currently ranked second in Canada and eighth in the world.
Under the direction of Fort St. James Falcons coach Keith Gordon, Macdonald began speed skating when she was six years old.
As Macdonald grew, she began to dominate at the provincial level and, at age 11, was the Canadian midget champion in both short and long track. During those years and the ones that followed, she often competed at the Central Interior Challenge in Prince George. Through the sport, Macdonald got to know several P.G. speed skaters, individuals like Alexis Gaudet, Tim Hempsall, Sarah Pousette, Nico Hiller and Lucas Hiller.
Prior to her Grade 12 high school year, Macdonald moved to Calgary so she could join the Olympic Oval training program. After graduation from high school, she started classes at the University of Calgary, all while continuing to work on her development as a skater. During that phase of life, Macdonald won a relay silver medal at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax and skated for Canada at the 2013 and 2015 World University Games. In 2015, she was part of a women's relay team that bagged a bronze medal.
Two seasons ago, 2015-16, Macdonald was on her blades in four World Cup meets and, as a Canadian development team member, showed great promise. Near the end of the World Cup schedule, she won an individual bronze medal in a 1,000m race in Dordrich, Netherlands. Then, last summer, she moved to Montreal so she could train with the rest of the national team.
In the 2016-17 season, as a senior national team athlete, Macdonald won silver and bronze medals in World Cup 500m races in Calgary and Dresden, Germany. She was also part of relay teams that claimed bronze medals in Salt Lake City and Gangneung, South Korea, and a silver in Shanghai, China.
The 2018 Winter Olympics are Feb. 9-25.
