Brian McKeever

Brian McKeever is one of Canada’s most successful athletes ever. The country’s most decorated winter Paralympian with 20 medals including 16 gold, continues to retain his position among the top visually impaired cross-country skiers in the world.

Beijing 2022 was McKeever’s sixth Paralympic Winter Games. In December 2021, he earned gold medals in the 7.5 kilometer and 12.5 kilometer cross country skiing races with guide Graham Nishikawa at the 2021-22 season opening World Cup in Canmore.

In 2019, McKeever struck gold in the men’s visually impaired 20-kilometre cross-country classic-ski race on the last day of the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships, held in Prince George, B.C. The triumph gave McKeever his 20th career world championship title.

That same month, he was in Monaco where he was up for a prestigious Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability for his triple gold performance at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. Other nominees in different categories included LeBron James and Novak Djokovic.

At the 2018 Games in South Korea, McKeever became the most successful male cross-country skier in Games history, taking his total gold medal haul to 13. With his first medal won in PyeongChang, he crossed the 14 overall medal mark, officially passing Lana Spreeman to become Canada’s most decorated Winter Paralympian in history. The nation’s Opening Ceremony flag bearer, he would conclude those Games with 17 medals, adding three gold and a bronze to his remarkable career total.

At the Sochi Paralympic Games, McKeever collected gold medals in the 20 kilometer, 10 kilometer and one kilometer sprint with his guides Erik Carleton and Nishikawa. His victory in the one kilometer was particularly memorable as he overcame a fall at the start and overtook the leader on the final bend to win it.

In 2010, McKeever made history as the first athlete named to both the Olympic and Paralympic teams. He did not start in the Olympic races in Whistler, but a month later collected three gold medals at the Paralympics to add to his already impressive career haul.