Canadian skis into history
McKeever wins 16th gold, reaching the record set by most decorated male Paralympian Gerd Schonfelder
Canada’s Brian McKeever raced into the history books and grabbed his 16th Paralympic gold medal in cross-country skiing at the Beijing Winter Games in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, on March 12.
McKeever won the middle-distance race, and in doing so equaled the gold medal haul of German former para Alpine skier Gerd Schonfelder — the most decorated male Paralympian.
Norwegian cross-country skier Ragnhild Myklebust holds the record as the most successful Winter Paralympian overall — 22 golds and 27 total medals over five Games from 1988 to 2002.
McKeever had already bagged two titles in the visually impaired sprint and long-distance events earlier at Zhangjiakou.
The 42-year-old made his Paralympic debut at Salt Lake City in 2002 and Beijing will be his last Games.
He played down the fuss over reaching Schonfelder’s record.
“To be perfectly honest, it doesn’t mean a damn thing,” McKeever said, laughing.
“If the records happen to come, great. But that was never the focus.”
He said he loves having adventures with his guides and is proud of being able to demonstrate the level that Paralympic athletes can reach.
“The hard work is done in the offseason, we enjoy it. We love it. We love getting lost in the mountains and sometimes dragging our butts home after 10 hours,” McKeever said.
Sweden’s Zebastian Modin, 27, placed second and Ukraine’s Dmytro Suiarko won bronze. Modin hailed McKeever’s achievement.
“He has meant so much for this sport,” he said. “He has been working at the front for 20 years and shown what para athletes can do, and how fast para athletes can ski.”
Modin said it was his best race this season and he was looking forward to going home to rest. “We have to calm down a bit,” Modin said.