March 13, 2006 (Torino, Italy) – Brian McKeever with guide and brother Robin McKeever captured Canada’s first medal yesterday, and it was gold! The McKeever brothers (Canmore, AB) bounced back from a disappointing biathlon to dominate the 5K Freestyle in Cross Country with a time of 11:35.1, winning gold in the Blind category with a commanding 17.4-second lead.

“Our strategy was right; Robin led the way, I drafted behind, and when he faded I pulled out to sprint the last 500m of the course”, said Brian McKeever after the race. “It couldn’t have been better.”

In extreme wind conditions, the dynamic Canadian duo headed into the race with a plan. Robin, guiding his younger brother, would cut the wind for Brian to conserve energy. As planned, Robin pulled out to let Brian finish the race alone. As a less severe impairment (B3), the guide is not obligated to complete the race. Double gold medalists in Salt Lake City, this is Brian and Robin McKeever’s third Paralympic Games Gold medal.

Adding to Canada’s glory was Chris Williamson (Markham, ON) and guide Bobby Taylor who won the silver medal in Alpine Downhill, competing on the Kandahar Banchetta course at Sestrière-Bogarta. Completing the course in 1:17.99, the Canadian duo were only 0.77 seconds behind the gold medalists.

“This is a great way to start,” said Chris. “It was a real downhill: good competition and close at the end, a fight to the finish and I’m happy with the result. And I still have four more events to compete for gold!”

Cross Country Skiing
– 5 km Free, Blind M Brian McKeever (Canmore, AB) 1 11:35.1 (+0:00.0)
– 2.5 km, Sitting W Collette Bourgonje (Saskatoon, SK) 6 9:30.05 (+1:02.6)
– 2.5 km, Sitting W Shauna Maria Whyte (Hinton, AB) 7 9:48.02 (+1:20.7)
– 5 km Free, Sitting M Jean-Thomas Boily (Orford, QC) 27 19:02.5 (+3:23.7)
Р5 km Free, Sitting M Jimmy Pelletier (Val-B̩lair, QC) 29 19:24.4 (+3:45.6)