McKeever now has 14

PYEONCGCHANG, Korea, Republic Of

Medal No. 14 was both historic and incredibly hard.

When Brian McKeever looks back at the race that made him Canada’s most decorated winter Paralympian, he’ll remember it as one of his most difficult.

The visually impaired cross-country skier opened the Pyeongchang Paralympics with a gold medal in the 20kilometre event on Monday, his 11th Paralympic gold medal and 14th overall.

And in the moments afterward, the 38-year-old from Canmore, Alta., talked about the lung-busting final few kilometres.

“That one was hard. That one was really hard,” said McKeever, who finished in 46:02. “I think we had a plan to ski comfortably into it and try and build towards the end, and I think I built too much in the middle.

“I almost undid it because the last lap was very hard to keep the pace, but good enough in the middle that we built a nice lead and then we were able to hang on. But it was touch and go there at the end.”