March 16, 2014 (Sochi, Russia) – Canada’s Brian McKeever, with guide Erik Carleton, raced to his third Paralympic title at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games on Sunday (16 March), winning the men’s 10km visually impaired cross-country skiing event in a time of 23:18.1.

“That one was tough. It hurt,” said McKeever. “I woke up this morning and didn’t feel great. It was all on the guides again today. They did such a good job with the headwind. I was able to tuck in behind them and save a lot of energy. By the time we got to the last lap there was still a little gas left to get us by today.”

Canada's Klebl and McKeever all smiles with GOLD © Matthew Murnaghan/Canadian Paralympic Committee

Russia’s Stanislav Chokhlaev (23:25.1) and France’s Thomas Clarion (24:14.9) finished second and third behind McKeever, who claimed his 10th-career Paralympic gold in Nordic skiing.

McKeever, who became the first Winter Paralympian from Canada to win 10 career golds, has yet to make up his mind about whether he will retire before the PyeongChang 2018 Games.

“We’re going to leave the door open,” McKeever said. “We’re getting a little long in the tooth, but now is not the time to make those decisions. We’re still having fun, we’ve never been to Korea, so we’ll take it one day at a time.”

The Canadians leveraged a two-guide race strategy to pull McKeever to the top of the podium. The 36-year-old Carleton, of Canmore, Alta., led the way around the first 6.5-kilometres before coach Robin McKeever called in Graham Nishikawa, of Whitehorse, to pull him into the winner’s circle. McKeever was behind 12 seconds at the five-kilometre mark in the race.

“Having guided for 10 years I know how incredibly hard it is to do this job in the wind,” said Robin McKeever, head coach, Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team, who led his brother to 10 Paralympic podiums. “It is like a tow truck pulling a Ferrari out there in the wind.

Brian McKeever and his guide Erik Carleton © Matthew Murnaghan/Canadian Paralympic Committee

“For the guide, it is like doing a one-kilometre sprint race just to stay ahead of Brian. But the problem is you have to keep that pace for nine more kilometres. It is so difficult.”

Consummate team players, Carleton and Nishikawa shared the workload and trips to the podium this week to help McKeever accomplish his goal of a golden hat-trick. “It is so tough out there and I’m thankful Graham was here to help us out and get the job done,” said Carleton. “I went hard off the start and just tried to hang on.”

“Brian is just such an incredible athlete so it is very difficult to stay ahead of him,” added Nishikawa. “This whole week has been such an awesome experience. I’ve been so impressed with everything, and of course I’d love to be back again.”

The victories bring McKeever’s Paralympic gold medal count to 10, making him the only winter Paralympian to reach double digits. He has a total of 13 Paralympic medals.

“The medals this week were very special,” said McKeever. “The way we did it was such a team effort. Both guides gave me a solid draft all week, which made a huge difference in the conditions. We orchestrated a great team effort and that makes it so special to me.”

Chris Klebl en route to gold © Matthew Murnaghan/Canadian Paralympic Committee

Chris Klebl, of Canmore, Alta., shocked the world to win the men’s 10-kilometre sit-ski race. The 42-year-old Klebl put down the performance of the Games when it counted most to win Canada its final gold medal, and secure the country its goal of finishing in the top-three in the overall medal count. Klebl clocked a time of 30 minutes, 52.0 seconds (30:52.0).

He held off the Ukraine’s Maksym Yarovyi, who finished second at 31:06.5. Russia’s Grigory Murygin skied to the bronze at 31:18.2. For the first time at Sochi 2014, Russia’s Roman Petushkov failed to medal, finishing fourth in the men’s 10km sitting competition in 31:22.5 after already winning six golds at the Games.

“It feels pretty good for sure,” said Klebl. “I have exceptional skis for wet, sloppy conditions and today we got exactly those conditions. It just feels good. We prepare for this over and over and over again to try and get things to line up, and today it did.”

A three-time Paralympian, Klebl moved to Canmore, Alta. to join the Canucks from the United States following the 2010 Games. He first made history as a member of the Canadian Team in 2011 by winning the World Championships in the sit-ski distance race.

Klebl, who grew up in Austria where he skied and snowboarded, became paralyzed from the waist down in 1995 in a snowboarding accident.

Sunday’s victory was particularly important as Canada was in a fight for third spot in the overall Paralympic gold medal count with the Ukraine with the final sit-ski race remaining.

Chris Klebl (c) on the podium with gold. © Matthew Murnaghan/Canadian Paralympic Committee

“It means a tonne to me to contribute to Canada’s medal count,” said Klebl. “Four years ago I made a major decision to move to Canada, and Cross Country Canada and the Own the Podium program have backed me since. I just wanted to pay them back.”

Army veteran Andy Soule (San Antonio, Texas) once again was the top finisher for the U.S. placing ninth overall with a time of 32:56.1. He was followed closely by Lt Cmdr Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kan.) who was 10th with a time of 33:02.0. Aaron Pike (Park Rapids, Minn.) was 14th with a time of 34:00.0. Retired Airman Sean Halsted (Spokane, Wash.) finished 16th and Army veteran Jeremy Wagner (Nanakuli, Hawaii) and Marine Corps veteran Travis Dodson (Deming, N.M.) were 22nd and 23rd, respectively.

The U.S. Paralympic Nordic skiing team closed out the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi in exciting fashion today as Oksana Masters (Louisville, Ky.) won bronze in the women’s 5km sit ski cross-country race at the Laura Cross-Country Ski and Biathlon Stadium.

Masters finished the race in 17:04.8 just behind Germany’s Andrea Eskau who won with a time of 16:08.6 and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Pavlenko who was second with a time of 16:27.0.

It was the second medal for Masters and the third overall for the American squad. Masters won a silver medal in the 12km cross-country race earlier in the Games.

Today’s performance was the perfect end to the Games for Masters. “I am in complete shock and amazement,” said Masters. “It has been an amazing first Paralympic Winter Games.”

The race featured 23 competitors so it was difficult to know exactly where the racers stood until the finish. This made the race particularly challenging for the competitors.

“It just goes to show that when you are out here in the middle of a race and you work hard enough and put your heart into it that you’re going to make anything you want happen,” noted Masters. “I sure as heck was fighting for every square inch of this course, so I am so lucky.”

The race also featured Tatyana McFadden (Clarksville, Md.), the only other American to medal in Nordic skiing at the Games. McFadden also raced well, finishing in seventh place with a time of 17:27.8.

For McFadden, who finished in the top 10 of each of her races here in Sochi, it was a fitting end to a great Games. “It’s been a great experience and a great ride. I did really well my first Paralympic Winter Games, it’s been quite an experience,” said McFadden.

Anna Milenina of Russia picked up her second gold of the Games, winning the women’s 5km standing race in 13:31.9 ahead of Ukraine’s Iuliia Batenkovam (13:44.4) and Oleksandra Kononova (13:46.9).

Russia swept the podium in the men’s 10km standing race, with Aleksandr Pronkov (23:59.9), Vladimir Kononov (24:00.7) and Vladislav Lekomtcev (24:06.5) taking gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

Pronkov, just 16 years old, is one of the youngest members of the Russian delegation and took his first medal in his last of five events at Sochi 2014.

“I’m 16 years old. I trained with our team for one year. When I was a kid, I wanted to become a football player, but it was impossible,” Pronkov said. “I met my coach and now skiing is my life. I’m now a Paralympic champion.”

The host nation kept up their dominance in the women’s 5km visually impaired event, taking all three spots on the podium once again, with Elena Remizova grabbing the gold in 13:23.8 to give herself three Paralympic titles in Sochi.

Mikhalina Lysova (13:27.7) took the silver, and Iuliia Budaleeva (13:28.6) finished in the bronze-medal position.

Russia finished with a total of 32 medals in the Sochi 2014 cross-country skiing competition, including 12 golds, nine silvers and 11 bronze.

Full results here.