Saturday, February 8, 2003 (Baiersbronn, Germany) – Two-time Paralympicgold medallist Brian McKeever and fellow teammate and two-time ParalympianShauna Maria Whyte both won medals at the opening race at the WorldDisabled Ski Championships held in Baiersbronn, Germany this morning.Twenty-three year old McKeever and guide, brother Robin, blew thecompetition away in the 12.5 km biathlon long distance for visuallyimpaired athletes to capture the gold by over two and a half minutes.McKeever’s time of 43:12.1 includes the penalty from one missed shot in theshooting range. Ukrainian Vitaliy Lukyanenko and his guide VolodymyrIvanov took the silver in 50:34.2. The bronze medal went to two-timeParalympic medallist Russia’s Irek Mannanov and his guide Salavat Gournerovin 50:34.2. There were 13 athletes competing in McKeever’s category.Having just got over a stomach virus, McKeever is more than pleased withtoday’s results. “He started off a bit comfortably this morning, ” saysolder brother and guide Robin. “Brian made up lots of time at the end ofthe race, and then it basically came down to the shooting.”In the women’s biathlon long distance 10 km sit-ski event, Hinton-nativeShauna Maria Whyte took the silver medal in a final time of 51:05.9. Shewas followed by Russia’s Irina Poliakova in 53:14.9 and Ukraine’s LyukmylaPavlenko in 57:24.1. Today’s winner was nineteen-year old Pavlenko’steammate Olena Yarkovska, who posted a final time of 49:24.5. Whyte, whocame in fourth at the Salt Lake City Paralympics in the Biathlon event,uncharacteristically missed a single shot this morning.”It was a really good day today,” says Whyte. “I am happy with both myskiing and shooting, and am looking forward to tomorrow’s event.”The World Disabled Championships continues Sunday with the cross-countryski short distance. Fellow Canadian teammates Jean-Thomas Boily of Orford,Quebec, and Colette Bourgonje of Saskatoon will join McKeever and Whyte inthis event.CCC is the national sport governing body for cross-country skiing inCanada, servicing over 45,000 members in 375 clubs. The corporate vision:”It takes a ski community to raise Olympic medallists”, embraces theAssociation’s focus from entry level club development to the enhancement ofthe National Ski Team program.For complete race results: www.ski-wm2003.deFor more information, please contact: Amanda Fortier (514) 971-3145 or(514)528-6419, cccmedia@telusplanet.net or go to our web page athttp://canada.x-c.com