Brian McKeever Wins Canada's First 2010 Paralympic Gold Medal

by Jacob Zinn | March 15, 2010 at 02:25 pm

256 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

Brian McKeever of Alberta won Canada's first gold medal of the 2010 Winter Paralympics in the 20-kilometre freestyle visually impaired cross-country ski race in Whistler on Monday. McKeever won his fifth gold overall when he finished the race in 51 minutes and 14.7 seconds.

Premier Gordon Campbell issued a statement on McKeever’s win, reading, "Every time a Canadian athlete wins a gold medal on home soil it is a truly historic moment."

"That’s the one we really wanted," said McKeever, who waited eight years for this gold medal.

At the two previous Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City and Turin, McKeever won silver in the 20-kilometre race. With his brother Robin as his guide, McKeever crossed the finish line nearly 42 seconds ahead of the competition.

The silver and bronze medals went to Nikolay Polukhin of Russia and Vasili Shaptsiaboi of Belarus, respectively.

Brian McKeever's Quest for Gold

In 1999, the then-19-year-old McKeever was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease and became legally blind with only 10 per cent of his peripheral vision.

In January, McKeever, now 30, qualified for the Winter Olympics and was slated to be the first athlete to compete in both the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. He would have been 1 of 4 men on the Canadian team of the 50-kilometre mass pursuit, but when he arrived for the event, the coaching staff picked another athlete. Devon Kershaw, George Grey, Alex Harvey and Ivan Babikov were picked for the team and placed 5th, 18th, 32nd and 33rd, respectively.

"I keep saying it hurts as much as the day I was told I was going to lose my eyesight," said McKeever before winning the gold medal. "That's how big it was for me. It was huge, crushing."

McKeever was disappointed in not being picked for the team and even considered going back to Canmore, but in staying for the Paralympics, he’s made history at home.

On Saturday, McKeever placed sixth in the 3-kilometre biathlon pursuit. He is scheduled to compete in the men’s cross-country 1-kilometre and 10-kilometre sprint classics, and the men’s 12.5-kilometre biathlon.