Ben Lypka
Mission Record
Green turned into gold at the Penticton BC Winter Games last weekend.
Mission’s Janie Green cleaned up on the speed skating track at the event, winning five individual gold medals and one as part of a team.
The impressive tally improves on her three gold, one silver and two bronze she earned back at the 2014 BC Winter Games in Mission.
“It was probably one of the best meets of my life,” the Grade 10 Mission Secondary School student said. “Every race went really well for me. Normally I have a harder time in the longer distances but I was just going crazy all weekend. I got new best times in the 500, 1000, and 1500 metres.”
Success in the sport is in her blood, as her mother Eden Green earned a silver medal in the 500 m and a bronze in the 3000 m relay when short track speed skating was a demonstration sport in the 1988 Winter Olympics. Her father is English speed skater Julian Green.
Her sister Annabelle Green also excelled at speed skating in Penticton, winning one gold, one silver and three bronze medals. Janie said it was a great weekend for her younger sister.
“I was so proud and happy for her,” she said. “We haven’t really seen her race at this kind of level before so to see her do so well I was so happy, I was screaming for her at the top of my lungs.”
Janie explained she’s been around the sport for as long as she can remember.
“Four days after I was born I was brought to the arena because my mom was coaching,” she said. “I’ve been on the ice since I was two.”
Next up for Janie is the BC short track event in Kamloops this weekend. She then attends the Canadian Westerns in Edmonton the following weekend. She has also qualified for the Canadian open for short track later this year, and if all goes well she could go for national team tryouts after that.
She said she’d eventually like to follow her mother and compete in the Olympics.
“I’d love to follow in her footsteps but it’s really hard to make it,” she said. “I will take it as far as I can, and either short track or long track.”
The Green sisters were one of several Mission athletes who earned medals at the Games. Also taking home hardware were:
q Shuntaro Izumi, silver in judo under 50 kg men
q Benjamin Seeley, bronze in archery boys match play recurve
q Jared Bolland, bronze in 3000 m mixed U14 speed skating relay
For complete details from the Games, visit bcgames.org.