Canada's Brian McKeever (left) and his guide Russell Kennedy celebrate on March 7, 2022 in Chongli, Hebei Province. Photo: VCG

Canadian skier Brian Mckeever won his 14th gold medal in the men's long distance classical technique vision impaired in cross-country skiing at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games on Monday. A veteran of six Winter Paralympics, the 42-year-old athlete has won the respect of Chinese netizens.

Mckeever has bagged medals since his first Winter Paralympics in 2002. At the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, he extended his Paralympic medal tally to 17, which included 13 gold medals. Both his total medal tally and his number of gold medals are records for a Canadian athlete at the Paralympic Winter Games.

He continued his winning streak in Chongli, North China's Hebei Province on Monday. 

But Mckeever's journey at the Beijing Paralympics is not yet over. He has to compete for two other gold medals to match the 16-gold-medal record set by German alpine skier Gerd Schönfelder, according to Chinese news outlet thepaper.cn.

The skier said that he is fine with it if he cannot reach this goal, as that is the charm and the pain of competitive sports. 

Although he is in his 40s, Mckeever's passion for the sport, which tests his physical and mental stamina, has not diminished. Starting skiing at the age of 3, he first began competing at 12 years old. At 19, he was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a degenerative eye condition that also affected his father and left Mckeever with less than 10 percent of vision.

Mckeever was named Male Athlete of the Year for Winter Sport Performance at the 2018 Canadian Sport Awards. He was the flag bearer for Canada at the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. He performed the same role at the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Brian Mckeever (right), alongside his guide Russell Kennedy, competes on March 7, 2022. Photo: VCG

Mckeever said that his achievements are due to the other members of his team, including his coach, his elder brother and his therapist. 

"I've always said medals are for other people, because that's never why I did it. I mean, they're nice. There is no doubt they're nice, and every medal I've won, I'm proud of. But it's more about what they represent, because they represent four years of kicking your own butt to be better. It's always like, 'Today was good, tomorrow needs to be better.' You wake up and think, 'Let's be better today than I was yesterday,' and you do that again and again and again," the skier told the media.

Mckeever said that he still loves skiing but his body has started to inform him that it is time to take it easy and that he should enjoy the sport more for fun than for high scores.

He plans to retire from competition after the Beijing Winter Paralympics. 

"I think I will be declaring it as an end point. As much as I enjoy this, I have to face facts that I'm pretty old with my beard getting longer and grayer every day. It's time. [The 2022 Games] gives me mentally as well a place to close it out and then gives me some time to think about what else to do," Mckeever noted.