Simply unbeatable.
Undefeated through 2013, Brian McKeever and Erik Carleton were unstoppable again on Monday (March 18) as they captured their second gold medal at the IPC World Cup finals in Sochi, Russia.
The duo won gold in the 20 kilometre visually impaired classic race, winning in a time of 58:48.3. That was more than a minute faster than their chief rivals, Nikolay Polukhin and Andrey Tokarev of Russia.
Prepping for the Sochi races, which will host the 2014 Paralympics, McKeever and Carleton cruised through world championships, skied with the best in the Vasaloppett and handled windy delays in Russia that blew down trees and snapped tents in half. In the end, it paid off. Sprints, skate and classic, the Canmore duo have dominated them all.
“Erik paced me perfectly today,” said the 33-year-old McKeever of his guide. “We caught our main rivals early and then held a steady pace throughout the race to stay comfortably ahead of them.”
Head coach Robin McKeever said Sochi was the race that counted, and his team was in great shape for the finals.
Conditions proved to be difficult, as they skied through 25 centimetres of fresh snow and warm temperatures. The race was originally scheduled for Saturday (March 16), but a severe windstorm forced organizers to move the race.
“Our skis were really good today and the coaches relayed good information on the course to us, so this win was a real team effort,” added McKeever, who has 10 Paralympic medals on his resumé, including seven victories.
Three other Canadians also hit the start line on Monday. Chris Klebl of Canmore finished 12th in the men’s 15 km sit-ski race. Klebl finished 2:43 off the leading pace set by Russia’s Ramil Ilalutdinov at 45:42.
Saskatoon’s Colette Bourgonje also suited up in the women’s sit-ski race. The six-time Paralympian, and multiple Paralympic medallist, skied to sixth place – 2:07 behind winner Andrea Eskau, of Germany, who clocked a time of 42:58.0.
Ottawa’s Margarit Gorbounova and her guide Phil Wood also competed in the women’s 15 km visually impaired category where they finished well back of the leaders in seventh spot.
The Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games will take place March 7-16, and are set to feature 700 athletes from 45 countries.
Athletes will compete in five sports – alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling. Para-snowboard will make its games debut as part of the alpine skiing program.
