Canada’s McKeever snags second nordic gold

In the men’s visually impaired 20k freestyle race, the Canadians were in second position after the first lap, but picked up the pace afterwards and led after 10km until the finish, clocking a time of 51:18.9.

Brian McKeever and his guide Erik Carleton won their second gold medal at the 2013 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in Solleftea, Sweden on Wednesday (27 February).

In the men’s visually impaired 20k freestyle race, the Canadians were in second position after the first lap, but picked up the pace afterwards and led after 10km until the finish, clocking a time of 51:18.9.

The silver medal went to Russia’s Nikolay Polukhin (guide Andrey Tokarev), silver medallist in the event at both the 2011 IPC World Championships and the Vancouver 2010 Paralympics.

The 30-year-old Russian finished in a time of 52:16.8. The podium was completed by Stanislav Chokhlaev (guide Maksim Pirogov), who crossed the finish line 36 seconds behind his compatriot Polukhin.

Vladimir Kononov of Russia stood atop of the podium in the men’s standing 20k freestyle race.

The 41-year-old Russian, bronze medallist in the same event at the Vancouver 2010 Games, finished the race in a time of 52:50.6, more than two minutes ahead of his teammate Rushan Minnegulov. It was Minnegulov’s second medal of the championships after winning a bronze medal in the sprint two days ago, finishing in a time of 55:07.1.

Ihor Reptyukh from the Ukraine came in third. It is the first international medal for the 18-year old skier, who clocked a time of 55:55.8.

Defending world champion Kirill Mikhaylov of Russia finished in a disappointing seventh place.

Ukraine’s Iuliia Batenkova became the new world champion in the women’s standing category.

After winning the silver medal in this event at the 2011 World Championships and the 2010 Paralympics, she finally got her first gold medal at a major international competition, posting a top time of 46:23.1.

Just eight seconds behind Batenkova, defending world champion Oleksandra Kononova of Ukraine had to settle for the silver medal in a time of 46:31.0. Paralympic champion in the event, Russia’s Anna Milenina, won the bronze medal, finishing in a time of 48:01.5.

It was another Russian podium sweep in the women’s visually impaired category, with Elena Remizova (guide Natalia Yakimova) this timing finishing on top of the podium in 44:12.9. Iulia Budaleva and her guide Tatiana Maltseva took home the silver medal in a time of 44:38.7, leaving the bronze medal for Mikhailina Lysova and her guide Alexey Ivanov.

After the third day of competition, Russia comfortably lead the standings with a total of 19 medals, seven of which were gold.

All events from the Championships will be streamed live on the IPC’s YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/ParalympicSportTV.

For more information on the 2013 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships, please visit the event website at www.ipcnordicskiingworlds.org.

You can also follow the action on Twitter @IPCNordic and like the sport’s Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/IPCNordicSkiing.