Young Indo-Canadian speedskaters from BC and Alberta did well at the recently concluded Canadian Youth Short Track Championships in Selkirk, Manitoba with former Surrey-based Prabhnoor Grewal winning multiple medals including Gold in Team Relay event. Another Indo-Canadian skater from Kamloops Meena Litt also won medals.

By R. Paul Dhillon – Editor DESIBUZZCanada 

SELKIRK – Young Indo-Canadian speedskaters from BC and Alberta did well at the recently concluded Canadian Youth Short Track Championships in Selkirk, Manitoba with former Surrey-based Prabhnoor Grewal winning multiple medals including Gold in Team Relay event. Another Indo-Canadian skater from Kamloops Meena Litt also won medals.

Grewal won the following medals in her category (T2T 13 female) at the 2022 Canadian Youth Short Track Championships (West).

1. Bronze (400M)

2. Bronze (3000M Points Race)

3. Gold (3000M Team Relay)

On day one, Grewal could not finish two races (1500M & 200M Pursuits) because of suspected injury that was ruled out later in the day by hospital staff. She continued her participation in races next day and with a surprising bounce back, she won medal in each one she participated. 

There were only two athletes from Punjabi-Canadian origin in this competition. Grewal, who now lives In Calgary, was joined by Kamloops-based Meena Litt (12 Year Female category. 

Meena Litt won

Silver (200M Pursuit)

Silver (400M)

Silver (200M Points Race)

Bronze (1500M)

Long Track (400M Ice Track)

On Apr 14 and 15, they both competed in 2022 Canadian Youth Long Track Championships in Quebec City. In Canadian ranking in their respective category, Grewal ranked number 5 overall (13 yr female) and Litt 11th overall (12 yr Female). 

In raves, Grewal ranked

#4 in 300M 

7 Lap Mass Start race and despite the fall, she finished #6 out of 18.

#4 in 1500 Olympic Style

#8 in 500M Olympic Style

There are a few athletes in Speedskating from Punjabi-Canadian community in various age groups but rarely seen less at elite youth level. It’s good to see athletes like Grewal and Litt creating waves in speedskating and creating awareness, motivation and engagement from Canadian Punjabi communities into Canada’s rich culture of Winter sports. 

In 2019, Grewal turned out to be a pioneer athlete in British Columbia Speedskating as she won Silver in both provincials (Short Track and Long Track). In 2019 she became GenBC Skater (Youth under guided development of the province) and represented BC under 12 (T2T 11 Females category) in Long Track Nationals 2020 (Red Deer) where she had technical issues and had 5 falls within two days in heats and final races and ranked 14th out of 16 in Canada. She was the only Punjabi and of Indo-Canadian in the whole event. 

All other competitions got cancelled in 2020 and during the COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021, but Grewal trained in Summer, and skated as much as she could get Ice in Richmond and Langley. She also enjoyed all the things that any child or youth wants, including reasonable screen time and ice creams (sharing so that no one has to deprive of enjoyment for glory) but as an example and commitment to stay fit, she worked hard with a Personal Trainer (Miranda – twice a week) on upper body during even during the 6 weeks of her foot in the Cast as she had injury from a street skateboarding. 

She remained fit and after the COVID-19 restrictions and was much faster and according to her Coach Julian Green (British Olympian who coaches in Langley & Maple Ridge). Grewal deserved a higher level of training, especially the Long Track (there is no Long Track in metro Vancouver – used to be in Richmond that they dismantled after the Olympics) as there was not much competition left for her in BC for her age category. Only her friend Manuala from Richmond and a skater Nora from Burnaby remained close competitors. In 2021, with full family support, Grewal, now 14,  moved to Alberta and joined Calgary Speedskating Association where she was greeted with love, care, fierce competition and encouragement from her peers that are some of the best in Canada and they all train at the Calgary Oval.

In January 2022, she got accepted as Alberta Skater and had to transfer provincial status from BC to Alberta in February 2022. Through two qualifiers, and overall performance of the season, Grewal qualified for youth Team Alberta by ranking overall #2 in her category.

Fun Facts: 

Prabhnoor’s fastest speed on ice was 34.3 km/hr in a 400M race in Canmore on Dec 04, 2021. Ref#4  

Fastest Canadian record was Jeremy Wotherspoon who scored avg 52.70 Km/hr in 500M race in Calgary 2008. Most fastest records are in Calgary or Salt Lake City as that also is almost as good as Calgary.