Ponoka speed skater Maddison Pearman wraps up Olympic competition

Ponoka speed skater Maddison Pearman has wrapped up her Olympic competition at the Beijing Winter Games in China.

The first-time Olympian competed in the Women’s 1500m event on Feb. 7 and finished in 24^th place overall with a time of 1:59.89, 6.61 seconds behind gold medal winner, Ireen Wust of the Netherlands.

Pearman’s Team Canada teammate Ivanie Blondin, of Ottawa, finished the race 13^th overall with a time of 1:56.49.

Pearman also competed in the Women’s 1000m event on Feb. 17. She finished with a time of 1:17.66, good for 26^th place overall and 4.47 seconds behind gold medal winner Miho Takagi, of Japan.