March 18, 2005 – Canada’s Brian McKeever struck gold for the second straight day after climbing to the top of the podium at the Disabled Nordic Skiing World Championships in Fort Kent, Maine on Thursday.

McKeever joined teammate Colette Bourgonje, who sprinted her way to a silver medal in the sit ski discipline, pushing Canada’s overall medal count to four at the prestigious international event.

The 25-year-old Canmore, Alta. native dominated the five-kilometre classic race, crossing the finish line 48 seconds ahead of his closest competitor with a time of 13 minutes 05 seconds.

“We started fairly hard and just hammered it out to get a big lead” said McKeever, whose guide, and brother Robin, accompanied him through today’s race. “We definitely didn’t want to hit the finish line and feel like we could have done more. We had incredibly fast skis and we worked hard. It was a just great day.”

The silver medal in the men’s competition went to Frank Höfle of Germany, with guide Johannes Wachlin, who crossed the line with a time of 13:53.0. Russia’s Irek Mannanov and guide Rostislav Pavlov rounded out the podium, taking the bronze medal at 13:53.7.

Saskatoon’s Colette Bourgonje made her first podium appearance of the week after skiing her way into second place for the silver medal in the women’s 2.5-kilometre sit-ski short distance race, crossing the finish line with a time of 8:44.4.

“I worked the hills hard and had a technically sound race,” said the 43-year-old. “My strategy was to go as hard as I could, because it is an incredibly short race. The track was in excellent condition today and I had a lot of fun.”

Shauna Maria Whyte of Hinton, Alta. was the only other Canadian athlete to compete in the women’s race. Whyte, who took home a bronze medal at the disabled world championships earlier in the week, ended the day in fifth place after posting a time of 8:58.5.

Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Pavlenko picked up her second gold medal of the week, skiing into first with a time of 8:29.6, while teammate Svitlana Tryfonova rounded out third at 8:46.2.

Two other athletes skied for Canada on Thursday. Jean-Thomas Boily of Orford, Que. finished the men’s five-kilometre sit-ski race in 25th place with a time of 18:09.0, while Jimmy Pelettier of Quebec City, skied into 26th spot at 19:28.9.

The Disabled Nordic Skiing World Championships will continue throughout the week in Fort Kent, Maine with the long distance freestyle and relay events.

Complete results when available: www.ipcnordicski2005.org
Top-Five Men’s Results (5 kilometre classical technique):
1. Brian McKeever, Canmore, Alta., CAN, 13:05.0; 2. Frank Höfle, GER, 13:53.0; 3. Irek Mannanov, RUS, 13:53.7; 4. Vitaliy Lukyanenko, UKR, 14:07.0; 5. Valerie Kuptchinski, RUS, 14:14.9.

Top-Five Women’s Results (2.5 kilometre sit-ski):
1. Lyudmyla Pavlenko, UKR, 8:29.6; 2. Colette Bourgonje, Saskatoon, CAN, 8:44.4; 3. Svitlana Tryfonova, UKR, 8:46.2; 4. Olena Yurkovska, UKR, 8:50.6; 5. Shauna Maria Whyte, Hinton, Alta., 8:58.5.

Top-Three Men’s Results (5 kilometre sit-ski men):
1. Sergey Shilov, RUS, 14:48.7; 2. Mikhail Terentiev, RUS, 15:17.5; 3. Oliver Anthofer, AUT, 15:23.3.
Canadian Results (5 kilometre sit-ski men):
25. Jean-Thomas Boily, Orford, Que., 18:09.0; 26. Jimmy Pelettier, Quebec City, 19:28.9.