Monday is the long-distance cross country event for the 2010 Paralympics. And it'll be Brian McKeever's time to shine. Guided by his brother Robin, who himself competed at the '98 Olympics in Nagano can still lay down some top ten Canadian results - important as not to slow his brother down in reaching a podium result:"Guiding my brother Brian for the past seven years has led to some great times, some great races and some hilarious stories, but it has never been easy. " exclaims Robin.
The role of a guide seems rather simple — get the athlete to the finish line as fast as possible! Simple enough, however, this is dependent on the level of vision of the athlete you are guiding, which presents very different challenges. For a B1 classified skier (that is, totally blind), the guide — through verbal direction and without touching the athlete — has to keep the athlete on an undulating race course and away from competitors, trees, people, fences and television cameras along the course. Greatness is only achieved through an amazing bond of confidence between guide and athlete.
"Thankfully, trust is not an obstacle for me and Brian, who is a B3 classified skier and has around 8 per cent vision on a reading chart. It doesn’t seem like he has much vision, but he can make his way around a course without a guide pretty darn fast, and at times he has left me begging for mercy and dry heaving. He has asked me to go faster than my body would physically allow. Ah yes, my guiding challenge is simple!"
Standing Paralympics will be competing on the same red course as the Olympics. Grooming will start at midnight, as the snow continues to fall in Whistler. The 5km red course will be groomed for Free Technique with one classic track for the entire 5kms... the track is crucial for the Polish male skier who will double pole the entire 5km lap - four times for the 20km mens competition. He needs the track for support as both his legs are prosthetic. When I asked Dirk how he is able to double pole up the first steep incline out of the stadium he said "very well, and fast...his upper body is extremely strong, while his lower limbs are so light he doesn't have the same weight to push". Amazing - I plan to watch this event live at 10am for the Men and 12:25pm for the Women's 15km - 3 laps of the 5km red course.
Temperatures are dropping to -2 degrees C overnight bringing dry snow...but as Dirk said it isn't the same snow we are used to in the east...it's still 'heavy'...tons of humidity. "You can still make a good snowball."
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