Guide Lindsay Debou, left, leads visually impaired women's slalom skier Viviane Forest of Edmonton down the course during the first run of the slalom event at the Paralympics. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Make it three medals for Canada at the Paralympic Games.

Colette Bourgonje captured Canada's first medal on Sunday, then Viviane Forest and Josh Dueck added to the country's medal haul shortly after.

Bourgonje, from Saskatoon, won silver in the women's 10-kilometre sit-ski cross-country, finishing the race in 31 minutes, 49.8 seconds to become the first Canadian to win a Paralympic medal on home turf.

"Wow, I'm shocked and I can't believe it," said the 48-year-old Paralympian. "Age is nothing, attitude is everything and I lived by that today."

The only Canadian athlete to have competed in all five Paralympic Winter Games to go along with four Summer Paralympics, Bourgonje was on pace to win gold before crashing on the second of three laps.

"I am still racing because I wanted to compete at a Paralympics in Canada and I'm just so proud to have done this in front of all Canadians," she said. "I share this medal with the entire country."

Liudmila Vauchok of Belarus won in 30:52.9 while Olena Iurkovska of Ukraine was third in 32:43.5.

Bourgonje received congratulations from Prime Minister Stephen Harper following her win. "Today, Colette has become part of the rich history of exceptional accomplishments by Canadian athletes. She is an inspiration to all Canadians."

Forest, from Edmonton, won silver in the women's slalom for the visually impaired. She and her guide Lindsay Debou of Whistler, B.C., finished in 2:01.45. Austria's Sabine Gasteiger won the race in 2:00.56.

Forest, 30, winced in pain after the race from a groin she pulled in training two weeks ago. The hurt didn't diminish the joy she felt over winning her first Winter Paralympic medal.

"I have a leg that is pretty sore so I tried to manage my energy and not bounce too much around," said Forest, who also won gold medals in goalball at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Paralympics.

"I tried not to focus on the pain and just make my way down. I was afraid of the last section. I had no gas, I was in so much pain. I was afraid to miss a gate and not finish. But it did go well. That's what matters."

Forest plans to ski in four more events. Her goal is to win at least one gold and be on the podium in every race.

"The pressure is off," said Forest, who won five medals at last year's world championships and was the overall World Cup champion. "We've got a piece of the Games to bring home."

Australia's Jessica Gallagher and guide Eric Bickerton were third in 2:04.35.

Josh Dueck of Vernon, B.C., won a silver medal in men's slalom sit-ski. Dueck was fourth after the first run but battled back in the second for a time of 1:46.29. Germany's Martin Braxenthaler won in 1:41.63.

Dueck's second run left him sitting second with three skiers to go. Austria's Philipp Bonadimann was next but his time of 1:46.34 left him third.

The last skier down the hill was Jurgen Egle, but when the Austrian fell, the silver belonged to Dueck.

"I feel pretty lucky to be in this position, no doubt," said Dueck, whose previous best slalom result was a third in a World Cup event.

"If you see some of the footage of that run I barely held on. I was just super happy to cross the finish line."

Dueck said he had mixed emotions when Egle crashed.

"I felt bad for him," he said. "He could have had a good run and challenged for the top spot.

"Bronze, silver, I'm on the podium. This is the best feeling I could ever hope for."

Dueck is a former freestyle skier and coach who didn't begin sit-skiing until he suffered a spinal cord injury landing a jump in March 2004.

Mixed in the large crowd watching the race was a vocal contingent cheering Dueck. The support didn't go unnoticed.

"The hometown crowd, everyone that came to support me and what I'm doing, they sent me over the top," he said.

"It's a little thing my sport psychologist and I have been working on, channelling that home energy. Letting it roll through me and putting it back on the mountain. It sounds kind of crazy but really helped calm my nervous."

In other events Sunday, Chris Williamson of Markham, Ont., and guide Nick Brush of Kelowna, B.C., finished sixth in the men's slalom for the visually impaired.

In wheelchair curling, Canada made its last rock count with a 5-4 win over Norway. Skip Jim Armstrong put his last shot on the four foot, and Norway's Rune Lorentsen failed to match.

With the win, Canada maintains its perfect record at 3-0, while Norway drops to 1-2.