Gold from McKeever, Wilkie in Canada’s most successful Winter Paralympics ever
PYEONGCHANG, Korea, Republic Of — Hours before Brian McKeever completed his Pyeongchang hat trick, the veteran cross-country skier arrived at the Alpensia track before the sun was barely up.
He and his guides Russell Kennedy and Graham Nishikawa were the first skiers to arrive Saturday morning, and spent the better part of two hours testing different skis in the fast-changing weather conditions.
McKeever raced to his third gold medal at the Pyeongchang Paralympics in the visually impaired 10 kilometres on Saturday, for an incredible 13th gold of his career. Afterward, the 38-year-old from Canmore, Alta., gave credit to all the painstaking pre-race preparation by his team.
“We had about a dozen skis to get through because the temperature went from plus-20 the other day to minus-14 this morning. So that’s a massive swing,” McKeever said. “We hadn’t seen anything that cold, we hadn’t seen the snow do what it did today, and with it warming over the day we knew we were going to have to be on the ball.