Canadian roundup: McKeever clinches country's best-ever Winter Paralympics performance
38-year-old ensures new Canadian medal record in Pyeongchang
Brian McKeever won a historic Paralympic gold medal for Canada on Saturday in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The 38-year-old from Canmore, Alta., raced to a rare "triple treble" — sweeping all three individual men's cross-country events for the third consecutive Winter Paralympics.
McKeever's victory in the men's visually impaired 10-kilometre classic pushed Canada's medal total to a record 20 before four more Canadian medals made it 24. The previous record was 19, which was set at Vancouver 2010.
The five-time Paralympian and his guide Graham Nishikawa won in a time of 23 minutes 17.8 seconds. McKeever had topped the podium in the 20-kilometre event and the 1.5-kilometre sprint earlier in the Games.
Arendz reaches 5th podium
The record medal haul didn't stand at 20 for long, as Mark Arendz went on to reach the podium again to earn Canada's 21st medal.
In the men's 10-kilometre standing cross-country category, the native of Hartsville, P.E.I., claimed bronze for his fifth medal in as many events in Pyeongchang.
The 28-year-old was third in the 1.5-kilometre sprint classic and won a medal of each colour in biathlon races.
Canadian curlers find redemption
Canada's wheelchair curling team found redemption in the bronze-medal game against Korea with a 5-3 victory.
The Canadians, led by skip Mark Ideson, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first end and survived a late push from the Koreans to earn Canada's 22nd medal.
The win comes a day after China ended Canada's hopes at a fourth straight Paralympic championship in a contentious semifinal. China went on to win gold in extra ends against Norway.
Wilkie, Young race to podium finishes
Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm, B.C., topped the podium in the women's cross-country 7.5-kilometre standing classic for her first Paralympic gold medal.
The 17-year-old won her first medal earlier in the week with a bronze performance in the sprint event.
Emily Young of North Vancouver, B.C., joined Wilkie on the podium in third. It was the first medal of the Games for the 27-year-old. The pair of medals gave Canada 24 in total.
Marcoux shy of slalom podium
Canadian para alpine skier Mac Marcoux had a strong second run in the men's slalom visually impaired event, but finished in fourth place in a competitive field.
Marcoux and guide Jack Leitch won downhill gold and giant slalom bronze earlier at these Games.
Alex Cairns finished 10th in the sitting race, while super-G gold medallist Kurt Oatway did not finish his first run. In the men's standing event, Kirk Schornstein, Braydon Luscombe and giant slalom bronze medallist Alexis Guimond did not finish their first runs.