The Yukon government announced the recipients of the 2021 Government of Yukon sport awards recently. These awards honour the accomplishments of athletes in our territory who have made exceptional achievements at the national and international level.

For 2021, the Government of Yukon awarded the Premier’s Award of Sport Excellence to nine individuals across seven sports.

Two-time Olympic Cross-country skier Dahria Beatty, who recently competed in the 2022 Beijing Olympics, is one of the award winners.

“They sent me a message during the Games,” said Beatty.

“It’s always an honour to be recognized. My parents will be keeping that safe for me until I get home.”

Mountain biker Mara Roldan, a member of Team Canada who competed at the 2021 World Championships, was another award winner.

Roldan describes what it’s like to win the award.

“I’m definitely honoured seeing my name beside Olympians and other people that have done really big things as Yukoners ... I hope to keep going in that direction.

“Definitely, being a Yukoner, it feels like there’s less opportunities for a sport like cycling. To have been able to come that far in the sport and be represented and have this award is a pretty proud moment for me. (I’m) really grateful for it.”

Roldan said recognition like this does benefit her financially.

“I do believe with the Yukon high-performance grant having done races internationally will definitely help with financing ... travels in the upcoming year. Every year it has increased a little bit, just because ... I kind of pushed levels while racing ... and so having done these races will help me get a little bit of recognition and more opportunities financially for sure.”

Roldan competed in the Wix Brown Circuit Race on Mar. 5 near Langley, B.C., part of the Spring Series races. The Star talked to Roldan after that race.

“A lot of people came out. It was pretty big.”

Over 100 riders competed in the races. Roldan raced in Category (Cat) 4 since she was short on points for Cat 3.

“I won the race in that category, so I’m going to be able to upgrade this weekend and race with the Cat 1 and 2s, which should be pretty fun.”

Roldan took top spot in the Elite Women Cat 1/2/3 in the Thornhill Circuit Race Sunday near Maple Ridge, B.C. Before the race, she said “this one should be a good race. Apparently it’s going to be a lot more hills and probably a lot harder too, just because it will be a stronger category, stronger field.”

This time of year is the beginning of the mountain biking season. Big races aren’t usually until the end of April, early May.

“That’s when I’ll be going down to the States for the first big Junior series of the year,” said Roldan.

“And then there’s the Canada Cups and maybe some racing overseas again.”

Roldan is already qualified for those races based on last year’s results.

“Hopefully I can just show up there, and race best as I can and maybe get some more points and hopefully qualify for World Champs again. That’s the goal.

“Canada Games are also exciting. That’ll be coming up. I’m proud to represent the Yukon there, hopefully in both road and mountain, which would be really fun.”

The Niagara 2022 Canada Games are August 6-21 in Saint Catherines, Ont.

“I’ve never been there before. I’m looking forward to it.”

Despite her credentials, the young rider will have to qualify for the Games.

“I’m pretty sure there will be one or two races for each discipline up in the Yukon, but they’re also choosing a race outside of the Yukon to qualify, so that could be Canmore Canada Cup or one of the Quebec Canada Cups.

“Because there aren’t that many cyclists in the Yukon, it’s not super-hard of a process to qualify. I think it’s four girls and four guys and so far I think there’s really only four or five people interested to even try to qualify,” she added.

Roldan is turning 18 in April.

“This is my last year in the junior category and then I go into U23s and that’s pretty much everyone under the age of 23, so when you get there, you’re racing people that are a lot older than you, but it usually is a very strong field and very exciting field to race in, for sure. That’s when you actually get to be racing World Cups and in the ‘big league.’

Roldan added “hopefully I can keep repping the Yukon, making the Yukon proud and making myself proud with the results and opportunities in the future. I’m pushing my goals every year and trying to get better.”

Other recipients of the Premier’s award include Paralympic racer Jessica Frotten, hockey player Dylan Cozens, curler Laura Eby (the women’s MVP in the Canadian Curling Club Championships), World Cup freestyle skier Etienne Geoffroy-Gagnon, Terry Miller (the men’s MVP at the Curling Canada Mixed Nationals), Team Canada biathlete Nadia Moser, and Graham Nishikawa, who just won gold as a guide for Brian McKeever in the 2022 Paralympics in Beijing.