South Cariboo cross-country skiers recently came home with an armload of medals from the Sparkling Hill Masters World Cup 2011 in Vernon.
It was a double event, as it also served as the Canadian championships, and medals were awarded to the top 3 Canadians in each race.
Eric Larsson, 75, from 108 Mile competed in the 75-plus category and won a bronze medal in the five-kilometre Freestyle event and captured a gold medal as the first Canadian to cross the finish line.
In the 10-km Classic race, Larsson won Canadian gold and was fourth in the world, missing a bronze medal by three seconds.
He added a Canadian silver in the 15-km Classic event, where he also finished seventh overall in world standings.
His outstanding results gave him an opportunity to ski for the Canadian relay team that won the silver medal.
It was the third trip to Worlds for Larsson, who also competed in 1992 in Anchorage, Alaska, where he won a silver medal in the relay event with teammate Walter Scott, father of Olympic gold medallist, Beckie Scott.
At the Quebec Masters in 2002, he picked up three Canadian golds.
Larsson says he hadn't intended to race this year at the Masters, but at the 11th hour, he gave in and registered.
"The main reason I went was because over the last 30 years, I have met so many people through this sport and I wanted to reconnect. I actually went down just to mingle. I only ski for the sport and don't consider winning medals that important any more, but I'm still very pleased."
Tracy Moore of 108 Mile raced in the 40- to 44-year category and took the Canadian bronze medal in the 10-km Classic event. She also placed 10th overall in world competition.
In the 30-km Classic, she was fourth in Canada, and 11th in the world.
Jim Peterson of Horse Lake skied in the 60- to 64-year division and finished mid-pack in the 15-km Skate event and 46th in the 30-km Classic.
In total, the competition attracted 1,134 entries worldwide and 472 from Canada.