Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 13, 2022, Winnipeg, Manitoba ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMB2 C M Y K PAGE B2 SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 2022SPORTS IT was a happy coincidence that Brian McKeever wore bib No. 16 on Saturday. Canada’s cross-country skiing legend captured his 16th Paralympic gold medal, to tie German alpine skier Gord Schoefelder for the most victories by a male winter Paralympian. McKeever wrote a golden closing chapter to his remarkable career, cruising to victory in his final individ- ual event at the Beijing Paralympics with guide and longtime friend Graham Nishikawa. The 42-year-old from Can- more, Alta., has swept the podium in all three individual cross-country events for four consecutive Paralympics. But it’s never been about making his- tory for McKeever, rather, taking it one race at a time and enjoying the journey. “I’ve never thought about (the record),” McKeever said. “And, to be perfectly honest, that wasn’t the goal. It was just about trying to have a good day, and that’s what we’ve always done, we’ve tried to have our best day on the day. Performance on demand is very, very difficult to achieve. And with the fact that we’ve done it for years… I’m proud of what we’ve done here. Espe- cially as a bunch of aging veterans.” Canada’s Natalie Wilkie captured her third medal of the Games, a silver in the women’s 10K cross-country race. The Canadian team has 23 medals — eight gold, five silver and 10 bronze — and will finish third behind China and Ukraine. Canada will add at least one more to that total, a guaranteed gold or silver in Para hockey this morning. The cross-country relay also has a solid medal chance. Canada’s medals will mark the second best winter Paralym- pics in history, after the 28 medals cap- tured four years ago in Pyeongchang. McKeever, who started to lose his eyesight at age 19 due to Stargardt’s disease, an inherited degenerative condition, covered the 12.5-km course Saturday in a time of 33 minutes 6.6 seconds. He and Nishikawa wore No. 16 as the final skiers to push off the start line. They methodically picked apart the field in synchronized ski strokes en route to victory. Nishikawa collapsed after crossing the finish line. “(McKeever) is in amazing shape. He definitely put me under. I had my work cut out for me today and I was absolute- ly spent at the line,” Nishikawa said. “We’ve had such a long journey togeth- er, so it was really special to be able to do it one more time and I just wanted to make sure we had a good race today. “Brian makes it look easy, but I have had a front-row seat to seeing what he does, and it is incredible. He works so hard. He is so professional, and he loves skiing. It was a fun day for me.” Sweden’s Zebastian Modin, who won silver with guide Emil Joensson Haag in 33:59.1, praised McKeever for his huge contributions to cross-country skiing. “Brian is amazing,” Modin said. “He’s been pushing up front for so many years and showing what a Para-athlete can do. He has pushed the quality level of our circuit and Para sport. We have to be thankful for everything he has done for us.” Ukraine’s Dmytro Suiarko, and guide Oleksandr Nikonovych, were third. McKeever’s historic win comes two years virtually to the day that the COVID-19 global pandemic exploded around the world, grounding Canadian athletes amid travel restrictions and training facility closures. McKeever said the pandemic made him appreciate competing in Beijing even more. “It’s a hard job,” he said. “You want to keep being at the top, to keep the lifestyle that we’ve grown accustomed to, the travel, the experiences, the adventures, and all that stuff is very, very near and dear to our hearts. “We’ve always tried to enjoy those adventures, especially the past year, two years ago without being able to travel through COVID. As much as you understand that everybody’s in the same boat, and we’re trying to protect each other and we did the best we could, there was a mental hit for sure. It made us far more thankful … and we realize why we love it, and what we’ll miss when we’re done.” Wilkie, a 21-year-old from Salmon Arm, B.C., who won gold in both the sprint and long-distance races earlier in the Games, captured silver Satur- day in 41.45.3, despite falling on the final downhill portion. The course had also turned to mush in the 14 C heat at Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre. “This is amazing. I know it isn’t the gold medal, but I can’t believe it,” Wilk- ie said. “This was one of the toughest races I have ever been in. Coming off the start line I knew it was going to be a rough one because the snow felt like I was stepping through a metre of slush.” Wilkie skis with one pole after losing four fingers on her left hand when she got it stuck in a jointer machine in a high school woodshop class. She now has six Paralympic medals, climbing the podium three times in a spectacu- lar Paralympic debut in Pyeongchang as a 17-year-old, the youngest member of Canada’s team at those Games. Oleksandra Kononova won the gold in 41:18.0, while Ukraine teammate Iryna Bui claimed bronze. Britany Hudak of Prince Albert, Sask., was seventh. Collin Cameron of Bracebridge, Ont., already a double bronze medallist in Beijing, narrowly missed the podium in the men’s 10-kilometre sitting classifi- cation, finishing fourth. Elsewhere Saturday, Michaela Goss- elin finished fourth in women’s slalom as Canada’s top finisher in alpine skiing on the day. Alpine skier Mollie Jepsen, who cap- tured gold for Canada’s first medal of the Beijing Paralympics, will close the Games in spectacular fashion. The 22-year-old from West Vancou- ver, B.C., has been named Canada’s flag-bearer for today’s closing cere- mony. Jepsen, who won gold and silver in Beijing despite racing on an ACL injury that requires surgery when she returns home, called it “an honour of a lifetime.” Jepsen, who was born missing fingers on her left hand and skis with one pole, opened the Games with gold in the downhill, then added silver in the giant slalom Friday, for six career Paralympic medals — two of each colour. — The Canadian Press LORI EWING Canada’s McKeever makes history with 16th Paralympic gold THOMAS LOVELOCK/ OIS VIA AP Brian McKeever of Canada and guide Graham Nishikawa race to gold at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre Saturday. L ETHBRIDGE, Alta. — Pressed into a three-man setup after the withdrawal of vice Mark Nichols, the Wild Card One team skipped by Brad Gushue showed Saturday that it can play just as well short-handed as even strength. Gushue made a game-winning an- gle-runback to score three points for a 9-7 victory over Saskatchewan’s Colton Flasch in the 3-4 Page playoff game at the Tim Hortons Brier. With Nichols in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 a day earlier, his teammates used their mixed-doubles skills to help adjust their sweeping routines and communication. It paid off with a strong performance in a game that featured tremendous shotmaking from both sides. “(It’s) like playing a hockey game killing a penalty for 60 minutes,” Gushue said. “It is that big a difference in my opinion.” The 2022 Olympic bronze medallists advanced to the semifinal with the win. Alberta’s Kevin Koe downed Can- ada’s Brendan Bottcher 9-6 in the 1-2 Page playoff game Saturday night to advance to the final tonight while Bottcher will face Gushue at noon today for the other berth. After an opening blank, Gushue made a soft raise takeout for a pair to open the scoring. Second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker raised their fists in the air to salute the skip at the other end of the ice. Nichols chimed in on Twitter by posting three flame emojis. Flasch also showed his big-game met- tle in front of a near-capacity crowd. He made a hit for two in the third end and forced Gushue to find a tight port against three for a single in the fourth. The Saskatchewan skip made an in- off for a pair to take a 4-3 lead into the mid-game break. In the sixth end, Gallant made a hit- and-roll that just stuck around the edge of the 12-foot ring to set up a Gushue deuce. Flasch settled for one in the sev- enth and a Gushue in-off in the eighth end gave him a 6-5 lead. Flasch made a soft tap for two in the ninth end but vice Catlin Schnei- der missed a double takeout in the 10th end. Flasch was still able to draw around a centre guard to the top of the four-foot ring to put the pressure on. Gushue went with an angle-runback as it was the only option that could give him multiple points. He said he threw his angle-runback a little tight but Gallant held it. “I was just glad it was over to be honest,” Gushue said. “It’s really hard playing with three players. It’s mental- ly exhausting. Everybody is trying to do probably even more than you need to do. That was a grind.” A team that started out as a favourite after an 8-0 round-robin run quickly became an underdog when Nichols went down. The odds are against the three-time Brier champions but they’ll still be tough to bet against. “There’s no quit in our team,” Gushue said. “I think we’ve proven that over the last eight or 10 years we’ve been together. Certainly this afternoon was no exception. I’m super proud of what we did.” The Wild Card One entry did not have an alternate player at the Brier. Jeff Thomas served as a fifth at Cana- da’s Olympic trials last fall and moved into a coaching role for the Gushue rink at the Beijing Games. However, he wasn’t available this week since he was coaching the Newfoundland and Labrador team skipped by Nathan Young. Gallant said the turnaround from the Games to the Brier was too tight to bring a new alternate on board. “It’s a bit of a roll of the dice obvious- ly,” Gallant said. The loss eliminated Flasch, who played three games a day earlier - posting knockout wins over Wild Card Two’s Matt Dunstone (in a tiebreaker) and Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs - and did well in his first Brier as a skip. “It just shows that we belong,” said Flasch, who won world silver in 2019 as a second for Koe. “We’re a great team and everyone knows it now.” The Brier winner will represent Canada at the April 2-10 world men’s curling championship in Las Vegas. Gushue, Northern Ontario third Marc Kennedy, Saskatchewan second Kevin Marsh and Canada lead Karrick Martin were named first-team all-stars Saturday night. Koe, Nichols, Alberta second John Morris and teammate Ben Hebert took the second-team honours. Gimli’s Kerri Einarson won her third straight Scotties Tournament of Hearts title last month in Thunder Bay, Ont. She will wear the Maple Leaf at the March 19-27 women’s world curling championship in Prince George, B.C. — The Canadian Press Gushue beats Flasch to reach Brier semi Koe advances to tonight’s final with victory over Bottcher GREGORY STRONG JEFF MCINTOSH / THE CANADIAN PRESS Team Alberta skip Kevin Koe (right) and second John Morris discuss strategy against Team Canada Saturday at the Tim Hortons Brier in Lethbridge, Alta. B_02_Mar-13-22_FP_01.indd 2 2022-03-12 10:40 PM ;