Sydney Peterson, a sophomore at St. Lawrence University and a member of the Saints' Nordic ski team, won a silver medal in the women's long distance classical technique standing yesterday afternoon at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games.
 
Peterson, a neuroscience major, who decided to take a leave of absence from St. Lawrence for the spring semester, won silver with a final time of 49:00.2 to earn her first Paralympic medal, as well as make her Paralympic debut. 
 
"Normally I would just be in the middle of our ski season. So last year at this time we were going to carnival races every weekend," Peterson said. "I guess that's what I'm planning on next year. I'll be back there skiing with the team."
 
When asked how she felt earning silver as a first-time Paralympian, Peterson said: "It feels absolutely surreal. I never expected to be here. This opportunity to race has been an amazing experience."

"All the girls here are super strong skiers so I didn't exactly know where I would stack up but getting splits from coaches part-way through was a big encouragement. It was a very hard race but I'm super excited with where I landed."

"We are all so proud of Sydney," said head coach Ethan Townsend. "What a fantastic start for her Paralympic experience and it is so cool to see her execute that performance amidst the pressure of a high level international event."
 
The Lake Elmo, Minn. native, is scheduled to compete in the sprint freestyle on Wednesday, March 9 at 1:27 a.m. and the 10-kilometer standing freestyle on Friday, March 11at 11:30 p.m.

Visit TeamUSA.org/Beijing-2022-Paralympic-Games to view the competition schedule, medal table and results.