ONE ON ONE WITH PARALYMPIAN NATALIE WILKIE

Girls Forward had the pleasure of speaking with Canadian Paralympian Natalie Wilkie (NW) about the journey that led her to the world stage in Para nordic skiing. In a candid and thoughtful conversation, Natalie shared the experiences that shaped her as both an athlete and a person and the lessons she hopes young girls can carry forward in their own lives.

Our Sport Content Coordinator, Kaitlyn Lehbert (KL) spoke with Natalie about the following:

KL: Could you please tell us a bit about yourself and your journey as a Paralympic nordic skier?

NW: My journey in Para nordic skiing started in 2016, so about 10 years ago. I actually grew up as an able-bodied skier, which I’m sure a lot of people know, but I was already at a pretty high level, and so once I switched over to para skiing, it was a pretty quick transition. I made the National Team a year after my accident, and then a year and a half later, I went to my first Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, and I’d just turned 17 at that point. That opened my eyes to the opportunities that lay in Para sport and that is what kept me going with cross skiing, and then later biathlon as well.

I’ve been on the National Team since 2018 and have been living in Canmore for the last four years, full-time and it has become my full-time job at this moment.

I’m about to be heading to my third Paralympic Games this year, which is crazy that my journey started only 10 years ago. It doesn’t feel like that long.

KL: Can you speak to why empowering girls through sport, physical activity, and education is important to you?

NW: It’s super important for girls to be in sport, and stay in sport. I know there’s a higher dropout rate for girls than there is for boys, which I find concerning, because there’s so much value to be found in participating in a sport. You find community, friends, learn leadership skills, and overall there’s so much you learn from being an athlete.

When I think of what my life would have looked like without sport, I would be in a very, very different place.”

I was a super shy kid growing up so having a structured practice to go to made it so much easier to build friendships. We would do things outside like ski training as well, which was the base of what built the friendships. Growing up with a team around me was super important. When I think of what my life would have looked like without sport, I would be in a very, very different place.

KL: You’re heading into your third Paralympic Winter Games. Looking back, how has each Games experience felt similar or different, and does anything feel new or different you approach this one next month?

NW: Every game has felt a little bit different. Four years in between games is a long time, and a lot can change.

The first games, I had just turned 17 and I was such a baby. Para sport was still quite new to me and I was still trying to learn the technique and trying to get to know my teammates. I went in with no expectations, just very wide-eyed, wanting to get as much as I could from the experience and above all, have fun. I think I did a pretty good job of, yeah I was there to race but I was also there to be with my teammates and cheer on my friends.

With my first Games, I was still struggling a lot with body image issues around my hand and my accident. Being in that space with other people with disabilities opened my eyes. Not to sound cliche, but I felt like I had found my community and my people who understood what it was like living with a disability. It made me realize, “We’re here because of our disabilities, not in spite of them.” It was an important difference at the time.

When training for Beijing, it came up faster than I expected. I remember being very stressed heading into it because I had already won three medals in PyeongChang and because of COVID, we hadn’t been to any competitions in the last two years. I had no idea where I was going to stack up against my competitors. Things went really well but because of COVID, it was still kind of a weird time with those games.

This games is different because we have quite a young team this year. We have a couple of veterans who’ve been to PyeongChang and Beijing but we have a lot of young ones who just qualified this year, which makes me really excited. I think my role in the team has shifted to more of a veteran which makes me feel so old saying that. I feel like I’m in more of a role model position now. I have the opportunity to set an example for the younger racers because for a lot of them this is their first games and they have no idea what to expect.

KL: You shared in a past interview that you didn’t always love skiing, but a positive experience in your Jack Rabbit program- especially the sense of community with friends and the support of your program leader-helped change that. What can sport programs take from your experience to create environments where girls feel supported and excited to participate?

NW: I think there should always be a focus on having fun first. In sport, it’s really easy to streamline athletes or to try to get them to be competitive, but people aren’t going to stay unless they’re having fun. Whether that’s through friends or the activities you’re doing.

Those were all things that kept me interested when I started in Jack Rabbits. My program leader would make obstacle courses and we played games all the time. That was the importance of it (the program), just having fun, building friendships, and learning life skills. I looked forward to Saturday mornings because I knew it was going to be two hours of having fun with my friends.

I think there should always be a focus on having fun first… people aren’t going to stay unless they’re having fun.”

My first couple races I did, they weren’t fast, I wasn’t looking to win. I was just dressed up in my colourful tights, I had ribbons in my hair and sparkle. It was more like “This is fun. I like doing this.” I feel like that’s a very important aspect to keeping girls in sport.

KL: A mentor of yours, Kate Boyd, has been an important influence along the way. At Girls Forward, mentorship and Role Models are central to our work. What qualities did Kate bring as a mentor that made such a lasting impact on you?

NW: Kate was the first Para Nordic coach that I worked with. At my first development camp, Kate was running it and it was me and a bunch of other development athletes who were new to the sport.

Kate is a very quiet person but she’s a good leader and she’s full of knowledge. She just doesn’t like to show it off. You quietly learn more and more about her which I like. She’s really good at meeting athletes where they are. I didn’t expect the transition to Para skiing to be so hard but skiing with one pole versus two was actually really difficult to learn. Everything about the technique is different and Kate was really, really good about helping me with that technique, but it also went beyond just skiing. She was helping me adjust to my new reality. She would always be checking up on me, checking up about races, and helping me integrate more into the Para team. Her role went beyond just being a ski coach which I think is exactly what I needed at the time.

KL: From your experience in Para sport spaces, what’s one area where you still see room for growth or further development to create greater parity and equity between Olympic and Paralympic sport?

NW: One thing would be to make sure we’re using the right vocabulary around the Olympics and Paralympics. This year, I feel like it’s the best it’s ever been but there’s still gaps.

I saw a lot of brands use the word Olympic but they wouldn’t follow it with Paralympic which sometimes bugs me because Olympics and Paralympics should be equal but sometimes it feels more of an afterthought. We (Paralympic athletes) have less visibility, less people know about Paralympics and it kind of still shows. Although, I think that Paris was a good turning point for people even watching more of the Paralympics.

We are not just here to inspire. We’re here to compete, to win, just like able-bodied athletes.”

Another really good thing to notice is that I feel like a lot of the time, the media does focus on “This person is competing, even though they have a disability” or “They’re such an inspiration.” Whereas, we don’t want that to be the focus. We want the focus to be “Wow this person went out, ripped an amazing race and won a medal.” We want it to be the same as the Olympic athletes. We don’t want our disabilities to be the focus. We are not here just to inspire. We’re here to compete, to win, just like able-bodied athletes. I think sometimes focusing on our disabilities takes away from that.

The 2026 Paralympic Winter Games kick off in 13 days, running from March 6-15. You can view the full schedule here, and CBC Gem will be streaming the Games- find their broadcast schedule here. Want to show some extra support? Help fill the stands virtually and cheer from home by joining the online fan section here. We can’t wait to cheer on Natalie and our other Canadian Paralympic athletes on this year!