![]() ![]() However, the night before the 50km classic in Vancouver, the Canadian team announced its four-man line-up and he had been left out as he was the fifth-ranked member. It wakes me up in the middle of the night and that stuff starts to weigh on you pretty heavily." (, )Īt the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, he looked set to become the first athlete to compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in the same year when he was selected for the Canadian able-bodied cross-country skiing team. It's tough waking up every morning and barely being able to walk and going to bed at night and having pain all night. ![]() I think the biggest thing is just the body breaking down and doesn't recover, so I'm in constant pain every day and as much as I can put that aside, it's a job, you start to realise. When you are in your 40s and you're still trying to compete with young guys and be a professional, there is no such thing as being refreshed. Of course that's difficult and at least it's making me aware that there's a need to transition and shift focus and think about it. gives me mentally as well a place to close it out and then gives me some time to think about what else to do. As much as I enjoy this, I have to face facts that I'm pretty old with my beard getting longer and greyer every day, it's time. ![]() "I think it will be declaring it as an end point. He plans to retire from competition after the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. I think any exposure we can get for the Paralympic movement is welcome and it doesn't get any bigger than this." (,, , ) It's a wonderful opportunity to showcase Paralympic sport to the world, to a broader audience that maybe hasn't ever seen it before, or they don't know the story. There's a lot of emotion packed into 60 seconds. It's snippets of a life lived, and a career skied, and just how much went into it. It was suddenly the reality of what it was showing. "When I watched it a second time it was with a friend of mine and we both cried. Super Bowl 56 averaged a US television viewership of around 100 million. The advertisement, titled 'Brothers', lasted 60 seconds and portrayed his and Robin's journey from childhood to the Paralympic Winter Games. In February 2022 he and his brother Robin featured in a Toyota television advertisement broadcast during Super Bowl 56, the final game of the National Football League season in the United States of America. His older brother Robin, who competed in cross-country skiing at the Nagano 1998 Olympic Winter Games, has also served as Brian’s guide for several years and has coached the Para Nordic skiing team on the international scene.Īt age 19, McKeever was diagnosed with Stargardt disease (a macular degeneration or loss of central vision – fine detail and colour), which had also afflicted his father. In 2007, he was named Best Male Athlete at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Paralympic Sport Awards and received the Best Male Athlete award at the 2014 Canadian Paralympic Sport Awards. He was chosen as Canada’s flag bearer for the Closing Ceremony of Salt Lake City 2002. He first tried skiing at three years old and began competing at 12. McKeever is widely-recognised as one of the best Para Nordic skiers in history. ![]() One year before, McKeever had claimed double cross-country gold in the men’s middle and long distance vision impaired at the World Championships in Finsterau, Germany. The Canadian legend won gold in the long distance, middle distance and sprint vision impaired, before adding a bronze in the open relay on South Korean soil. He has so far won 13 golds across five Games. This was the first event he competed in after making history at PyeongChang 2018.Īlongside guides Russell Kennedy and Graham Nishikawa, he won three gold medals to become the most successful male cross-country skier in Winter Paralympic history. Brian McKeever has continued his winning form into 2019, with one gold and two silvers in cross-country vision impaired races at the Vuokatti World Cup. ![]()
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