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The final day of the Winter Olympics this Sunday has only two events: the gold medal men’s hockey game and the 50km cross-country skiing race. Brian McKeever will be skiing for Canada. This race will make him the first Olympian ever to participate in both the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in the same year. McKeever is legally blind.
In 1998, McKeever was a promising 19-year-old skier when he was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease, a type of juvenile macular degeneration that gradually leads to blindness. Twelve years later, McKeever only has 10 percent of his vision, and that tiny fraction is in his peripheral vision.
Rather than rolling over when he lost his sight, though, McKeever got back on his skis.
Read about how McKeever does it at mental_floss. Link
At the opening ceremonies for the Vancouver Olympics Friday, Robel Teklemariam will carry the flag for Ethiopia. Teklemariam is a cross-country skier from a country that has no snow. He came to the United States at age 9 while his mother worked for the UN in New York City, and attended the University of New Hampshire on a full scholarship. This will be his second Olympic competition. Link
