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Nationality | Canadian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Calgary, Alberta, Canada | June 18, 1979|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Cross-country skiing and biathlon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Disability class | B3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Partner | Graham Nishikawa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former partner(s) | Robin McKeever Erik Carleton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Robin McKeever | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Brian McKeever (born June 18, 1979) is a Canadian cross-country skier and biathlete, who became Canada's most decorated Winter Paralympian when he won his 14th medal at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. [1] He finished the 2018 Games with a career total of 13 gold medals and 17 medals, making him the most decorated Paralympic cross-country skier ever. [2] McKeever claimed a 16th Paralympic gold medal in the men's para cross-country middle distance vision impaired race at Beijing 2022, drawing him level with the German para-alpine racer Gerd Schönfelder for the most men's Winter Paralympic wins. [3]
McKeever began skiing at the age of three and started competing at thirteen. At 19 he began losing his vision due to Stargardt's disease. [4] At the 2002 and 2006 Winter Paralympics he competed in both cross-country skiing and biathlon. He won two gold medals and a silver in cross-country the first year and bronze medal for biathlon plus two gold medals and a silver for cross-country skiing in the later year. [5] For his performance at the 2006 Games McKeever was named Best Male at the Paralympic Sport Awards. [6]
McKeever's older brother, Robin McKeever, competed as his guide in the Paralympics until 2014, when Erik Carleton took over. [7]
In 2010, he became the first Canadian athlete to be named to both Paralympic and Olympic teams. [8] At the 2010 Winter Olympics, he was going to compete in the men's 50km cross-country race, however Canada's coach decided to replace him with a skier who did well at an earlier event at the 2010 games and thus he did not become the first athlete in the world to compete in the Winter Paralympics and Winter Olympics in the same year. [9] [10]
At the 2010 Paralympics McKeever won three gold medals for cross-country skiing.
McKeever repeated this triple gold medal performance at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, sweeping the men's visually impaired cross country skiing individual events for the second time. [11]
At the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, McKeever was Canada's flagbearer during the opening ceremonies. [1] His gold medal in the men's 20-kilometre cross-country ski freestyle event was the 14th of his career, to pass Lana Spreeman as Canada's most decorated Winter Paralympian. [1] McKeever won another two individual gold and a team relay bronze, his third triple gold medal sweep, for a career total of 13 gold medals and 17 medals in all, making him also the most decorated Paralympic cross-country skier ever. [2]
Prior to the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing, McKeever announced that he would retire after the Games. He swept his three individual events for the fourth Paralympics in a row, including the men's visually impaired 20 kilometre classical, 1.5 kilometre sprint, and 12.5 kilometre freestyle—his 16th Paralympic medal and 20th overall. [12] [13]
In 2011, McKeever was inducted alongside his brother Robin into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame. [14]
The 2010 Winter Paralympics, or the tenth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada from March 12 to 21, 2010. The opening ceremony took place in BC Place Stadium in Vancouver and the Closing Ceremony in Whistler Medals Plaza.
Australia has competed in every Winter Paralympics. In 1976, the first Games, Australia's sole competitor was Ron Finneran, but he was not an official entrant. In 1980, Kyrra Grunnsund and Peter Rickards became the first official competitors, in alpine and cross-country skiing. The number of Australian athletes increased to three, five, five and six at the next four games, respectively, and all of the athletes were alpine skiers. The participation decreased to four in 1998 and climbed back up to six in 2002. Australia won its first Winter Paralympic medals in 1992, and has medalled at every games since then. All of the medals have been won in alpine skiing.
Australia participated in the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino, Italy, from 10 to 19 March 2006. The Turin games represented Australia's ninth appearance at the Winter Paralympic Games. Australia were represented by 10 athletes, which made it their largest ever Winter Paralympic Games contingent. Australia competed in three sports: alpine skiing, biathlon, and cross-country skiing, but not ice sledge hockey or wheelchair curling. Prior to the games, the Australian Paralympic Committee set a target of two medals, down from the seven that were won four years earlier in Salt Lake City. This was due to the retirement of three-time medallist Bart Bunting, as well as changes made to the disability classification system. This target was met with Australia winning a silver and a bronze medal to finish equal 13th on the medal tally.
Canada hosted and participated in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Canada previously hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Canada sent a team of 206 athletes, including participants in all 15 sports, and finished with 14 gold medals and 26 in total, surpassing their previous best medal performance at the 2006 Winter Olympics. The 14 gold medals also set the all-time record for most gold medals at a single Winter Olympics, one more than the previous record of 13 set by the former Soviet Union in 1976 and Norway in 2002. This record was matched at the 2018 PyeongChang Games when Germany and Norway tied it, and broken at the 2022 Beijing Games by Norway. Canada was the first host nation to win the gold medal count at a Winter Olympics since Norway at the 1952 Winter Olympics.
Australia has participated officially in every Paralympic Games since its inauguration in 1960 except for the 1976 Winter Paralympics.
The alpine skiing competition of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympics will be held at Whistler, British Columbia. The events were due to be held between 13 March, and 21 March 2010. Events scheduled for 13 March, however, were postponed due to weather conditions – specifically, low visibility. The snowboard cross event was a demonstration sport until 2014.
Canada was the host country of the 2010 Winter Paralympics, in Vancouver, the first time it had hosted the Winter Paralympics.
Canada has participated eleven times in the Summer Paralympic Games and in all Winter Paralympic Games. They first competed at the Summer Games in 1968 and the Winter Games in 1976.
Lana Spreeman was a Canadian athlete, who competed in alpine skiing at five Winter Paralympic Games. In her career, she won 13 medals for Canada, making her Canada's most decorated Winter Paralympian until passed by cross country skier Brian McKeever, who earned his 14th medal at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.
Robin McKeever is a Canadian Paralympic cross-country skier.
Zebastian Tintin Modin is a Swedish cross-country skier, biathlete, and Paralympian. He competed in classification B1 events.
Grygorii Vasylovych Vovchynskyi is a Ukrainian biathlete, cross-country skier, and Paralympian. He is classified LW8, and compete in classification category standing.
Vitaliy Volodymyrovych Lukyanenko is a Ukrainian biathlete, cross-country skier, and Paralympian.
Volodymyr Ivanov is a Ukrainian biathlete, cross-country skier, sighted guide, and Paralympian.
Christopher Klebl is an American-Canadian cross-country skier who represented the United States at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Paralympics before winning a gold medal for Canada at the 2014 Winter Paralympics.
Mark Arendz is a Canadian biathlon and Para-Nordic skier. He was disabled at the age of seven when his arm got caught in the blades of a grain auger. He participated in the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Winter Paralympics and won 8 medals in total, including gold in the men's 15km biathlon standing at the 2018 games.
Cross-country skiing at the 2018 Winter Paralympics was held at the Alpensia Biathlon Centre, South Korea. The twenty events were held from 11 to 18 March 2018. Canadian Brian McKeever won three individual gold and a team relay bronze, his third triple gold medal performance, for a career total of 13 gold medals and 17 medals in all, making him the most decorated Paralympic cross-country skier ever.
Canada competed at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 18 March 2018. Canada sent a team of 55 athletes to compete in all six sports. The chef de mission was retired sledge hockey player Todd Nicholson, appointed in January 2017.
Great Britain competed at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing, China which took place between 4–13 March 2022.