Cross-country skier Brian McKeever has had a lot of career firsts in Whistler.
In 2010, he was the first blind athlete to be named to Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic teams in the same year.
Whistler is also where McKeever first received the bitter news he would not race for Canada in the men’s 50 kilometre race at the 2010 Olympics. Instead, Canada went with Devon Kershaw (who narrowly missed the podium that day by 1.6 seconds), George Grey, Ivan Babikov and a young Alex Harvey.
The news was crushing for McKeever, who was trumpeted in the media in the leadup as the first Nordic/ParaNordic cross-over.
On Sunday (March 24) at the Haywood Ski Nationals, the West Coast ski area was also the site for some Olympic redemption, as he won his first national title, claiming the 10 km race with an incredible time of 21:18 on what was an extremely fast day on the Whistler Olympic Park trails. Graham Nishikawa claimed second prize, 11 seconds back, while Graeme Killick took the bronze.
Usually, McKeever only competes in 10 km races to “keep the kids honest,” destroying Canada’s developing racers with his legendary endurance.
However, on Sunday he was there to win. Surrounded by guide Erik Carleton and teammate Mark Arendz, he let out a triumphant cheer after the stadium scoreboard flashed his name next to the fastest time of the day.
Feeling strong after his European races, he took advantage of his peak condition to dominate the trails.
“It was just a good day. I came in good shape. I just got back from Russia for 48 hours. It’s not bad to get off the plane and race sometimes. You never know where you’re at so you just race and go hard.”
It was only his second visit to Whistler’s ski trails since the Vancouver Olympics, but the first national title in his illustrious career. He has three silver medals at nationals, clocking back to 2002.
The slick course wasn’t suited to his style, as he admitted to feeling some nerves on the slippery downhills. The 33-year-old suffers from Stargardt’s disease, a condition that impairs his vision to the point he is considered legally blind. McKeever describes the sensation as looking through a straw.
“The light was good for me. I suffer when it’s a little bit grey. So that was good today. It’s faster than I’ve skied here in a while. The corners were sketching me out so I made sure to push it on all the climbs,” McKeever said. “The climbs are skiable. It’s a smooth course, so it skis well.”
Fresh off a pair of ParaNordic World Cup gold medals in Sochi, Russia and a 46th place finish in the 90 km Vasaloppet in Sweden, where he raced against 16,000 other competitors, McKeever said he arrived at nationals in the best shape possible, showing no signs of jet lag.
“(Guide Erik Carleton) and I raced well in Europe. My shape is good so you have to take advantage of it while it’s there,” McKeever said.
He should also contend for a podium in the 50 km race on Saturday (March 30).
“The travel was epic. That’s the thing with international travel – it’s a privilege,” McKeever said. “But we love racing in Whistler. It’s an amazing facility up here and we’re pretty proud we were able to host the Olympics and Paralympics.
Nishikawa said he was feeling the effects of the previous day’s team sprint (where he won bronze).
“It felt really hard for me. I just tried to work on technique. Brian skied a good race and I feel happy for him,” Nishikawa said. “I’m a little sore today. I’m not as young as I used to be.”
Nishikawa said the descents were technically difficult, but he wasn’t going to complain after McKeever had no problems with them.
“You can’t be sleeping on the hills,”Nishikawa said.
Heidi Widmer also won her first individual national title on Sunday, finishing as the top Canadian in the five kilometre skate race. She finished the course in 12:25, which was the third fastest time of the day behind foreign skiers Caitlin Gregg (12:02.9) and Eliska Harkova (12:13). Medals can only go to Canadians at Ski Nationals.
“Five kilometre races, the first one we did this year was at Sharkfest in Canmore (three weeks ago). It’s good to practise how hard you can go from start to finish. I felt good, but it was a real leg burner,” Widmer said.
As a sprinter, five kilometre races can be tricky, but Widmer said her training prepared her for the day.
“I can compare the feeling of this race to doing pyramid workouts, where you increase intensity. It’s probably the hardest work you do all fall and winter of training, but it really prepares you for days like this,” Widmer said.
Alana Thomas was the second fastest Canadian. It was the 24-year-old’s first medal at nationals since she was a junior. She hopes it’s not her last of the week.
“I just love climbing. There’s a few good climbs and it’s pretty technical, so I enjoyed that.
I’m aiming to manage my energy and hope for a couple more top five results,” Thomas said.
Alysson Marshall finished third.
