Canadian skier Brian McKeever makes history with 16th Paralympic gold

Canada's Brian McKeever raced into the history books and grabbed his 16th Paralympic gold medal in cross-country skiing at the Beijing Winter Games Saturday.

McKeever won the middle distance race, and in doing so equalled the gold-medal haul of German former para alpine skier Gerd Schonfelder -- the most decorated men's Paralympian.

Norwegian cross-country skier Ragnhild Myklebust holds the record as the most successful Winter Paralympian overall -- 22 golds and 27 total medals over five games from 1988 to 2002.

McKeever had already bagged two titles in the visually impaired sprint and long-distance events this week at Zhangjiakou.

The 42-year-old made his Paralympic debut at Salt Lake City in 2002 and Beijing will be his last Games. 

He played down the fuss over reaching Schonfelder's record.

"To be perfectly honest, it doesn't mean a damn thing," McKeever said, laughing.

"If the records happen to come, great. But that was never the focus."

He said he loves having adventures with his guides and is proud of being able to demonstrate the level that Paralympic athletes can reach.

"The hard work is done in the offseason, we enjoy it. We love it. We love getting lost in the mountains and sometimes dragging our butts home after 10 hours," McKeever said.

ALSO READ: Russian and Belarus athletes banned from Winter Paralympics: IPC

McKeever has a chance to win a 17th medal in the relay event Sunday.

Sweden's Zebastian Modin, 27, placed second and Ukraine's Dmytro Suiarko won bronze.

Modin hailed McKeever's achievement.

"He has meant so much for this sport," he told AFP.

"He has been working at the front for 20 years and shown what para-athletes can do, and how fast para-athletes can ski."

Modin said it was his best race this season and he was looking forward to going home to rest.

"We have to calm down a bit," Modin said.

-'Proud of my country'-

Ukraine's team on Saturday surpassed its previous best-ever Paralympic result -- 25 medals including seven gold at the 2006 Turin Games.

The team -- reeling from the trauma of Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- has managed 28 podium finishes in Beijing, with further medals up for grabs on Sunday in the relay events.

Oleksandra Kononova, 31, won gold in the women's middle distance standing cross-country race, sharing the podium with teammate Iryna Bui, 26, who came in third behind Canada's Natalie Wilkie, 21.

"I felt really proud of myself, about my country who raised me and gave me everything to perform here at such a high level. I thought about my family,"  Kononova said.

- Three sisters on the podium -

In Yanqing, there were three Austrian sisters on the podium in the women's visually impaired slalom alpine skiing event. 

Veronika Aigner, 19, achieved a second Paralympic title in two days guided by her sister Elisabeth, 23.

Younger sister Barbara, 16, claimed silver.

Their brother Johannes, 16, has also won four medals at the Games -- including two gold. The three siblings have the same congenital cataract condition as their mother.

China's wheelchair curling team, the defending champions, retained gold in an 8-3 match against Sweden on Saturday afternoon.

The team had a disappointing start to their competition, blaming losing their first couple of matches on nerves and pressure to perform in front of a home crowd.

But they bounced back and were able to deny Canada a spot in the gold medal match at Friday's semi-final.

Head coach Yue Qingshuang has taken to singing folk songs to her team before they play.

"I wanted the team to be able to relax and create some kind of atmosphere before the game, and help them perform their best," she said. 

On Friday night, Canada beat Slovakia 8-3 in the bronze medal match.

The Canadians haven't missed out on a medal since the 2006 Turin Games, and at PyeongChang they also claimed bronze.

"Just to be bringing home some hardware, it's so special," skip Mark Ideson said. 

"The heart's just pounding... just breathless," teammate Ina Forrest said.

In para ice hockey, China will play South Korea in the bronze medal match on Saturday night, and on Sunday Canada will square off against the US for gold.