Brain McKeever set for Olympic history (News Feature)

By John Bagratuni Feb 25, 2010, 19:52 GMT

Whistler, Canada - World champion Petter Northug may be the top favourite for the Olympic 50 kilometres cross country ski race, but Brian McKeever has stolen most of the attention in the buildup.

While McKeever is not expected to medal on Sunday, he aims to go down in history as the first winter sport athlete to compete at the Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

McKeever is legally blind, but rather than seeking the spotlight among the able-bodied athletes he simply wants to show that he is an excellent skier.

'I think we all understand that this is important. Whether or not I want to be the centre of attention is not important,' the 30-year-old said in the run-up.

'It shows that Paralympic athletes are training at a very high level. If this brings more attention that's great.'

McKeever was diagnosed with Stargardt's Disease, a macular degeneration or loss of central vision, in 1998 while competing on the junior circuits and declared legally blind two years later.

He joined the disabled circuit and won two gold medals each at the 2002 and 2006 Paralympics. He will also be at the Vancouver Paralympics next month in cross-country skiing and biathlon.

The 2007 world championships in Sapporo was the first big stepping stone on the road to Vancouver which he named 'the realization of a dream' at the time. McKeever came 21st in the 15km race, 33rd over 50km and 39th in the pursuit.

He qualified for Vancouver by winning a 50km race on the North American circuit on December 22, 2009.

'It was always my dream os a kid. It was a lot of hard work. Four very focussed years after making an unsuccessful run in 2006. It is always about pushing the level and getting better.'

Competing at the able-bodied top level is tough because he is not allowed to ski with his brother Robin as a guide. Instead, he follows other athletes or memorises the course in non-mass start races.

McKeever said that bad light could be a challenge on race day but that he is upbeat for two reasons to overcome such a scenario.

'It pays for me to know the course and know what I am doing. I am legally blind but not totally blind. I have 100 per cent peripheral vision,' he said during training this week.

'It is an outdoor sport and you have to be adaptable to the conditions.'

While McKeever is the first winter Paralympian to cross over, five athletes have done the same at the summer level: South African swimmer Natalie du Toit (leg amputee), US runner Marla Runyan (visually impaired), Polish table tennis player Natalia Partyka (born without a right hand and forearm), Italian archer Paola Fantato (polio) and New Zealand archer Neroli Fairhall (paraplegic).

Disabled athletes also competed at the Games before the Paralympics were fully linked with the Olympics in 1992. Hungarian marksman Karoly Takacs claimed shooting gold 1948 and 1952 after losing his right hand in a hand-grenade explosion.

For Canadian Para-Nordic team boss Bjorn Taylor, McKeever is simply a top athlete.

'He is an elite-level athlete, visually impaired or not. He is an athlete first, a person with a disability second,' he said at the 2007 worlds.