Canada's Paralympians are piling up medals

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Canada is off to a great start at the Winter Paralympic Games

Through three days of competition in Beijing, Canadians have already won 12 medals. That puts Canada second in total medals, behind host China (25) and ahead of Ukraine, Germany and the United States (8 each). 

Today, Canada doubled its count by racking up six medals, including three gold. The highlight was 42-year-old visually impaired cross-country skier Brian McKeever capturing the 14th Paralympic title (and 18th medal) of his incredible career. Also, Tyler Turner became Canada's first-ever Paralympic snowboard gold medallist, and 21-year-old cross-country skier Natalie Wilkie won the second Paralympic gold (and fourth medal) of her young career. Alpine skier Alana Ramsay became Canada's first multi-medallist of these Games, adding a super-combined bronze to the one she picked up in the super-G a day earlier.

Canadians will contend for individual podiums again on Day 4, while the country's Para hockey and wheelchair curling teams both continue their push for the semifinals. Here's what to watch on Monday night and Tuesday morning:

Mark Arendz looks to start a new streak. After winning a Canadian-record six medals in six events at the 2018 Winter Paralympics, Arendz extended his podium streak to seven by taking bronze in the men's biathlon standing sprint on Saturday in Beijing. The run ended last night when he finished fourth in his cross-country long-distance event. Arendz has a good shot to get back on the podium, and win his 10th Paralympic medal, as he switches back to biathlon for the men's standing middle-distance race at 11:30 p.m. ET. He took bronze in this event in 2018.

Brittany Hudak will also ski for her second medal of the Games. After taking bronze in the women's cross-country long-distance event won by Wilkie last night, Hudak moves over to biathlon for the women's standing middle-distance race at 11 p.m. ET. She won a long-distance bronze in biathlon in 2018, so we already know Hudak is capable of reaching the Paralympic podium in both forms of Nordic skiing. Competing alongside her tonight is Emily Young, who won two cross-country medals at the 2018 Games and placed fifth in last night's race where Wilkie and Hudak shared the podium.

Canada's Para hockey team plays for a spot in the semifinals. Despite their humbling 5-0 loss to the defending-champion United States in the tournament opener on Saturday, the Canadians can lock up a berth in the final four when they face South Korea at 12:05 a.m. ET. This is the second round-robin game for both teams, but it's also the last one because of the expulsion of Russia, which was supposed to play in this group. South Korea lost 9-1 to the U.S., which has clinched first place in the group and a spot in the semifinals. The winner of the Canada-South Korea game joins the Americans in the semis, while the loser will have to play its way in by beating whoever finishes third in the other group.

Canada's wheelchair curling team will try to stay on top. Skip Mark Ideson, Canadian flag-bearer Ina Forrest and their teammates suffered their first loss of the tournament this morning when they were beaten by Sweden. But Canada (4-1) remains in first place, just ahead of the Swedes (3-1). China and Latvia are tied for third at 3-2. The top four teams after the 11-team round robin advance to the semifinals. The Canadians will attempt to hold onto the top spot as they face South Korea (1-3) at 8:35 p.m. ET and Slovakia (2-2) at 6:35 a.m ET.

More on the Paralympics

Catch up on everything you may have missed from Day 3 here. Read about what the 42-year-old McKeever hopes to accomplish in his final Games here. Read about how impairment classifications and timing adjustments work to level the playing field here.

How to watch live events

They're being streamed on CBC Sports' Beijing 2022 website, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem. See the full streaming schedule here, including links to watch events when they go live. You can also catch Paralympic action daily on the CBC TV network. See the full TV schedule here. Read more about CBC Sports' Paralympic coverage plans here.

WATCH | What you missed on Day 3 of the Paralympics:

Quickly...

A prominent NFL receiver was suspended for at least one full season for betting on games. According to the league, Atlanta Falcons wideout Calvin Ridley wagered on NFL games during a five-day period last November when he was away from the team. At the time, his absence was said to be related to mental-health issues. The NFL says its investigation found no evidence that Ridley used inside information or "that any game was compromised in any way." Ridley, 27, was one of the most productive receivers in the league in 2020, when he caught 90 passes for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns. Last year, he played in only five games and had 31 catches.

Leylah Fernandez won the Monterrey Open again. The 19-year-old Canadian tennis player repeated as champion of the low-end WTA event in Mexico yesterday by beating Colombia's Camila Osorio in the final. Last year, Fernandez won Monterrey as an unseeded player and went on to make a stunning run to the final of the U.S. Open, where she was also unseeded. Now ranked 21st in the world, Fernandez was seeded No. 2 in Monterrey. Osorio was No. 5. Read more about Fernandez's second career WTA title and watch highlights here. 

Moh Ahmed lowered his Canadian 10,000m record. The Olympic 5,000m silver medallist sliced more than 25 seconds off his national 10,000m record by running 26:34.14 to finish second to American Grant Fisher yesterday at a track meet in California. Ahmed set the old record at the 2019 world championships in Qatar, where he placed sixth in the 10,000 (the same result he posted in that distance at the Tokyo Olympics last summer). The time he posted yesterday makes Ahmed the ninth-fastest 10,000m runner of all time. Read more about the run here.

And also...

Tomorrow is International Women's Day. To mark it, CBC Sports is streaming a panel discussion hosted by Andi Petrillo that will both celebrate the progress made in women's sports over the last year and address the work that still needs to be done. Watch it live Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. ET on CBC Sports' Facebook page. At 1:30 p.m. ET, head over to the CBC Olympics Twitter page for a discussion on women in sports and mental health. Hosted by Shireen Ahmed and Signa Butler, the guests are sports psychologist Clare Fewster and Olympians Cynthia Appiah, Anastasia Bucsis and Kirsten Moore-Towers.

You're up to speed. Talk to you tomorrow.