January 30, 2008 (Vuokatti, Finland) – Brian McKeever is not about to rest on his laurels as he climbed atop the podium once again in Finland Tuesday after winning the Men’s B1-B3 10 km race. With his brother Robin guiding the way to the golden spot on the podium, Mckeever’s closest competition, the Russian skier Nikolay Polukhin, finished almost three minutes off his winning pace of 26:59.8, while Frank Hoefle of Germany crossed the finish line +3:59.9 seconds behind.

“Brian destroyed the competition today,” said coach Kaspar Wirz. “It was difficult skiing because we had rain this morning that switched to snow, but we had the best skis in the competition. We had rockets for skis!” In addition to the tremendous efforts his athletes pulled off, Wirz could not say enough about the excellent job the wax technician did for the Canadian athletes.

McKeever is looking to become the first winter-sport athlete to compete in both the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. He made history last year after skiing in his first-ever able-bodied World Championships where he finished 24th in a 15-kilometre skate-skiing race.

Colette Bourgonje, of Saskatoon, has also been enjoying a very successful IPC World Cup tour, having won three medals to date and added a silver in the Ladies 12.5-kilometre sit-ski race today.

“Colette had a good race, her arms became tired but she recovered well and felt good,” said Wirz of the 15-year veteran of the Canadian Para-Nordic Team and five-time Paralympian. Bourgonje won two bronze medals at the 2006 Paralympics and two silver medals at the 1998 Games in Japan.

The IPC World Cup is divided into three categories for the various disabilities including: visually impaired, sit-skiing, and standing amputation and limb disability.

Cross Country Canada is the governing body of cross-country skiing in Canada. Its 45,000 members are athletes, coaches and officials, including members of the Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team and Canadian Disabled Cross-Country Ski Team. Cross-country skiing is Canada’s optimal winter sport and recreational activity with more than one million Canadians participating annually.

For complete results visit www.vuokattisport.fi