January 26, 2015 (Cable, WI) – Brian McKeever (CAN) and his guide Erik Carleton successfully defended their IPC World Championship title in the men’s 20-kilometre cross-country ski race on Sunday in Cable, Wisconsin.

Brian McKeever (CAN) © Pam Doyle file photo

Competing in his lone event at the 2015 IPC Nordic World Skiing Championships, the 35-year-old McKeever, of Canmore, Alta., and his guide, Carleton, hammered the field to clock a time of 43 minutes, 44.5 seconds in the men’s visually impaired skate-ski race.

“It has been a pretty rough season to now, but it is starting to come around and today is validation of that. I’m pumped to see it come together,” said McKeever, who arrived late last night and will only do this one race at the IPC Nordic World Skiing Championships. “The wax guys and coaches worked hard to choose skis for me. They deserve a big part of today’s medal because we were able to come in here, put our work boots on and race.

“I’m excited I was able to do a good job today and prove to myself I am where I’m supposed to be. I am now looking forward to the rest of the season.”

France’s Thomas Clarion (45:29.8) and guide Julien Bourla carried themselves to silver while the Russian duo of Stanislav Chokhlaev (45.42.2) and guide Evgenii Fatkhullin picked up the bronze.

The women’s equivalent saw Iuliia Budaleeva (46:49.3) and Tatiana Maltseva capture gold while teammates Elena Remizova (47:21.1) and guide Maksim Pirogov took silver. Ukraine’s Olga Prylutska and guide Borys Babar sealed bronze (49:00.9).

Russia claimed another gold medal as Rushan Minnegulov (43:43.6) won the men’s standing event. Frenchman Benjamin Daviet won his second silver of Cable 2015, finishing in a time of 44:15.9, whilst Ukraine’s Ihor Reptyukh (44:53.7) rounded off the podium in third.

Reptyukh’s compatriots Oleksandra Kononova (43.42.8) and Liiudmyia Liashenko (46:08.9) repeated their performance in biathlon from Saturday to win gold and silver respectively.

“I was training very long to get this kind of results” Liashenko said. “We worked very hard and the track here is really hard so it is not an easy race, which is why I am very satisfied with the result.”

Russia’s Ekaterina Rumyantseva (47:24.5) took bronze.

In the women’s sitting, Germany’s Andrea Eskau powered her way to her second medal of the competition, taking gold with an emphatic finish in 40:14.9. Marta Zaynullina (40.21.7) added a silver to Russia’s medal haul whilst Norway’s Mariann Marthinsen (41:12.3) was third.

“The temperature was not really a problem because it is not that cold yet,” Eskau said. “The course was a little bit slower than yesterday and my strategy was not to push too hard on the first run.”

In the women’s sitting race, USA’s Oksana Masters (Louisville, Kentucky) was just shy of a podium finish. The three-time Paralympic medalist finished fourth, with only three seconds separating her from the podium. Tatyana McFadden (Clarksville, Maryland), an 11-time Paralympic medalist in track and field and Nordic skiing, finished eighth.

Aleksandr Davidovich claimed Russia’s latest gold medal in the men’s event, finishing in a time of 44:06.2. Ukraine’s Maksym Yarovyi (44:11.3), Saturday’s (24 January) short distance biathlon gold winner, took silver.

Andy Soule (USA) ©James Netz

The USA’s Andrew Soule (44:26.0) picked up his second medal in as many days to complete the top three.

Olympic champion, Canada’s Chris Klebl of Canmore, Alta., narrowly missed the podium in the men’s 15-kilometre sit-ski division. Klebl, who won his first Paralympic gold on the final day of the Games in Sochi, clocked a fourth-place time of 45:37.2.

Andy Soule (USA) takes bronze in Cable. ©James Netz

“This has been a great event so far,” Soule said. “The organisers and volunteers have put on a wonderful event, the course has been groomed out fantastically. It has just been a lot of fun.”

“It was a really good race, and the course was really fast,” Soule said. “I just focused on breaking the race down into each area I needed to think about like skiing the straights fast and getting up the hills quickly and efficiently, and it paid off. I didn’t really worry about where I was in the standings; I just skied my race and had fun with it. It feels great to have two medals.”

Andy Soule (USA) wins bronze in Cable. ©James Netz

“This was a really amazing day for Andy [Soule] because he has never won a medal in the cross-country race,” said U.S. Paralympics Nordic skiing head coach Eileen Carey. “I think this is a good indication of his improvement in ski speed this year. He paced the race really well, and he was making gains on the athletes in front of him the whole time. It was a really exciting race to watch.”

Soule’s teammate Aaron Pike (Park Rapids, Minnesota) had his best result in international competition as he finished in fifth place.

“Aaron had an awesome race,” Carey said. “This is a really hilly course, and he’s been working on his climbing technique. This was the best result he has had, and we’re excited to see all of his work pay off.”

Other U.S. finishers included Lt. Cmdr. Dan Cnoosen (Topkea, Kansas) in eighth, Sean Halstead (Rathdrum, Idaho) in 10th and Bryan Price (Belton, Missouri) in 11th.

Monday (26 January) will be a rest day with the competition continuing on Tuesday (27 January) with the biathlon middle distance races.

Results here.

A live stream will be shown at www.cable2015.com

All competitions begin at 10am (CST) every day, with another rest day on 29 January.