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Canada is currently doing well at these Paralympic Games – as I type this, we have a total of 8 medals (3 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze) which is good enough to place us 4th overall in the medal tally. Russia is leading the way with a total of 23 medals (8,10,5) while the dominant US team from the Olympics is lagging behind in the Para’s with a total of 4 medals (1,2,1). Guess we can see where all their funding goes.
Firstly, congratulations to Lauren Woolstencroft for being a double gold medallist (Canada’s first for these games) – she won the standing Slalom and Giant Slalom events (and I think she has more to come). Here is a photo of her and Karolina Wisniewska accepting their Gold and Bronze medals from the Slalom.
Canadian Medallists
It is good to see two Canadian flags being raised at the same time 
Canadian Flags
Next up is Brian McKeever, who won Gold in the 20klm cross country. Brian was the center of a bit of controversy during the Olympic games – he was the first disabled person (maybe first Canadian only, and I say ‘only’ pretty lightly) to qualify for the big games. Unfortunately, he was part of a 5-man squad and only 4 were allowed to race (4 per country maximum) – and he was the unlucky one chosen to sit out.
Brian has now won a total of 4 Gold medals (not sure about Silver and Bronze) over the last 3 Paralympic games. Wow! Good on you Brian, and I hope to see you competing at the 2014 Sochi games.
Here is a photo of him receiving his Gold.
Brian McKeever
Thanks to Justa Jeskova for the photos, including this one of a band playing a free concert as part of the Whistler Live experience.
Whistler Live Music
Sadly, I just found out that Canadian Paralympic athletes don’t win ‘prize money’ like the athletes from the Olympic games. During the big games, Canadian won CAD$20,000 for a Gold medal, and $15,000 / $10,000 for Silver and Bronze. The Paralympic athletes win their medal (obviously) and a hand shake. Where is the love?
Source
It is unfortunate that Brian missed the opportunity to compete in the Olympic Team Event as well. It would have been a significant historical event to be able to cross the boundaries between the Olympics and Paralympics. I believe that although he was the alternate, he should have been selected to ski that event because as human beings we rise to momentous occasions and he had something to prove on that day. If I was the coach I would value that additional drive over historical half seconds.
I live in Whistler but was unable to watch Brians event live, as I had a previous engagement. Fortunately that previous engagement was to see the Women’s Slalom Standing event that very same day. As a Canadian, I also had the pleasure of watching our Women get Gold and Bronze in person. My daughter also walked away with a ‘Gold Medal Hat’. I invite you to see that story on my Blog at http://blog.virtualwhistler.com/?p=502