Myriam Bédard
(IOC)
Updated: 2007-07-25 20:18
Lillehammer. XVII Olympic Winter Games. 23 February 1994: Myriam BEDARD from Canada, gold medallist in both the 7.5km and 15km women's. Credit: IOC Olympic Museum Collections
Other names: BéDARD, Myriam
Born: 22 December 1969
Birthplace: Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec (Canada)
Nationality: Canada
Sport: Biathlon
ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Albertville 1992
Lillehammer 1994
Nagano 1998
AWARDS
Olympic medals:
Gold: 2
Bronze: 1
Details
Other results:
World Championships
Gold: 1 (93)
Silver: 1 (93)
Winning With Mismatched Skis
A rarity among biathletes, Myriam Bédard competed as a figure skater until she was twelve years old. When women's biathlon was introduced to the Olympics at the 1992 Winter Games, Bédard earned a bronze medal at 15km. In Lillehammer, she took a gold medal in the same event. Five days later she entered the 7.5km race, a distance at which she was the reigning world champion. After the race began, Bédard realised that her skis were mismatched. By mistake, she had grabbed one ski from one pair and another from a different pair. The left ski was improperly waxed and she struggled with it throughout the race. Nevertheless, she managed to better the time of Svetlana Paramygina by a mere 1.1 seconds and win her second gold medal (26:08.8).
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