Cross-country skier Brian McKeever has equaled Gerd Schönfelder’s record for most gold medals by an athlete at the Paralympic Winter Games.
On Saturday, the Canadian clinched his 16th victory in the visually impaired class over the middle distance of 12.5 km. With a success with the relay on Sunday in the last race of his career, the 42-year-old can become the sole record holder.
“To be really honest, the record doesn’t mean anything to me,” said McKeever, who won his third gold medal in China. “It’s never been about me, it’s about having fun. We love our adventures. We like to get lost in the Bergen, only to come home completely exhausted after ten hours.”
McKeever made his Paralympic debut in Salt Lake City in 2002. Since then, he has always won at least two gold medals in cross-country skiing, and since the home games in Vancouver in 2010 he has even been unbeaten there. In biathlon and with the Canadian cross-country relay, however, McKeever has never made it to the top.
The German alpine icon Schönfelder set the sole record in Vancouver. The now 52-year-old won his first of 16 Paralympics in 1992 in Albertville. Until the end of his career in January 2011, Schönfelder, who competed in downhill, super-G, slalom and giant slalom, dominated the alpine scene.
The record for most gold medals at Winter Games among athletes is held by Norway’s Ragnhild Myklebst, who had a total of 22 wins in Nordic disciplines and ice sled racing between 1988 and 2002.