McKeever ends Paralympic campaign with third gold

CANADA’S Brian McKeever brought the curtain down on the Winter Paralympics with his third gold medal in Whistler.

THREE-SY DOES IT: Brian McKeever, along with brother and guide Robin, claimed his third gold medal at the Winter Paralympics cross country skiing events in Whistler (Getty Images)

Blind cross country skier McKeever, who was also part of the Canadian team at last month’s Olympics, took the 1km sprint title ahead of Russia’s Nikolay Polukhin and Sweden’s Zebastian Modin.

Russia’s Sergey Shilov took the sitting title ahead of Ukrainian Iurii Kostiuk while Irek Zaripov, already a three-time gold medallist at these Games, claimed bronze.

Italy’s Francesca Porecellato edged out Olena Iurkovska, of the Ukraine, by half a second to claim the women’s sitting title while Germany’s Verena Bentele was a comfortable winner of the visually impaired event.

Japan were double winners in the standing classification – Yoshihiro Nitta claiming the men’s event and Shoko Ota outsprinting Russia’s Anna Burmistrova to win the women’s title.

Germany finish top of the finalised medal table with 13 golds, two more than Russia – who won the most overall medals.

Hosts Canada enjoyed their most successful Winter Paralympics ever – finishing third on the medal table with ten gold medals. 

The closing ceremony will be staged at Whistler’s Medal Plaza, where the British flag will be carried by sit-skier Sean Rose.