Mark Arendz with his third Crystal Globe of his illustrious career, and his second in back-to-back years. Photo credit: Berg Media

By Tommy Osborne

Para Nordic World Cup Finals

Canadian Athlete solidifies status as world’s best in Prince George

Mar 15, 2024 | 3:35 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Canadian para athlete Mark Arendz has been a dominant force in the world of para nordic skiing for more than a decade, and his excellence was on full display here in Prince George during the Para Biathlon World Championships and Para Nordic World Cup Finals. During last week’s Para Biathlon World Championships he swept the competition, winning three gold medals in all his events, and in the process he won his third Crystal Globe.

“It’s just fantastic. I’ve now won two Globes back to back with my brother behind the scope, and I think that’s pretty special as well. And it’s been really special to also have my parents here watching both of their sons work and compete, if you will. So that’s really special for them, and to be able to win that in front of a home crowd, it just adds that little bit of memorable flair,” Arendz said.

The Crystal Globe is a trophy given to the International Paralympic Committee’s top performing athlete for an entire season. Arendz also won the Globe for his excellence in 2023, and what makes this incredible accomplishment even more astonishing is that it’s coming off a 2022 season where he battled injury and had a surgery to remove bone spurs from his heel. Typically, injury in sports is known to slow an athlete down, but Arendz says it’s only made him stronger.

“I hadn’t really taken a big break from my training from competition in many, many years. So taking that break, focusing on different aspects of my skiing, that allowed me to really sharpen the efficiency of my skiing and bring that to the next level, especially my skating. And that’s showing in the results now,” he explained.

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At 34 years old, Arendz has been competing for 14 years, but he believes he has even more in the tank as he believes all his time training and competing has resulted in him mastering the art of biathlon.

“It’s that fine balance with biathlon, it’s a really unique balance of the shooting and the skiing back and forth. And there are years or just weeks that one is stronger than the other, and it’s about trying to get both of them together and bring them to that next level. I think I’ve really found that good match for both, where at times my shooting was stronger or my skiing was stronger and now both are the strongest that I can get them now,” he said.

While Arendz already secured the Crystal Globe, he’ll have more opportunities to add to his impressive collection, as there are more events coming up this week where he has a chance to win some gold medals. With Arendz planning on competing in even more world championships, it’s possible we’ll once again see him on top of the world in the not so distant future.

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