Canadian skiers set to push next level at Milano Cortina 2026: Brian McKeever

Canadian Paralympic legend-turned-coach Brian McKeever is thrilled Italy’s Val di Fiemme will serve up fast racing conditions and terrain that will push athletes’ skills to the next level.

Val di Fiemme will host the Para biathlon and Para cross-country skiing action at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, which take place from 6-15 March 2026. There will be up to 180 athletes competing in Val di Fiemme.

Fresh from analysing the course during the test events earlier this year, McKeever gave the venue a big tick.

“It’s long steep uphills. It is downhills with sharp corners. It requires more skill than they have had to possess in some of the other venues we have been at,” he told the IPC. “This one has got some technicality to it that made me retighten my boots.”

The countdown is on

His squad of 16, including guide skiers working with athletes with vision impairment, will need to put in extra work, now they know what to expect.

“You’re not going to have to be good for a minute of climbing. You’re going to have to be good for a minute and a half of hard work, plus another three minutes of continued effort after that before you get a real break,” the 44-year-old McKeever said.

He expects the course will be tough on the junior skiers.

“A lot of places keep putting us on flatter courses, on easier terrain, that doesn’t do a service for the athletes. For the top ones it’s under their level. It forces them to ski down a level,” he said. 

The test event was also a good opportunity to gauge equipment requirements to suit the granular Italian snow.

“In Canada we get a lot of the dry fine grain snow. It’s a different type of snow requiring a different type of skis. From an equipment standpoint we have to think about what bases to bring over what ski flexes to bring,” he said.

From athlete to coach

McKeever took up the post of Canada’s Para Nordic national team coach after calling time on his illustrious sporting career following the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics, where he added three gold medals to his collection.

McKeever was diagnosed with Stargardt disease in his late teens, a condition that his father also had. Stargardt disease is a genetic eye disorder that causes a loss of central vision. Peripheral vision is usually not affected.

Since his Paralympic debut at Salt Lake City 2002, McKeever has bagged 16 gold, two silver, and two bronze medals in Para cross-country and biathlon events, to become Canada’s most successful Paralympian.

His victories in Zhangjiakou, China, helped him equal German Para alpine skiing icon Gerd Schoenfelder’s tally of the most men's Paralympic Winter Games titles. 

After competing at six Paralympic Games, Milano Cortina 2026 will be his first as a coach.

“It will be nerve-racking,” McKeever said.

“I’ll be leaning on the athletes asking: ‘How do I help you?’... I don’t want to impose too much of my own experiences... I don’t want to inject too much of this was how it was 20 years ago.”

The transition from athlete to coach has been a steep learning curve, he admitted.

He took over the job from his older brother Robin who was full of good advice.  Robin is a former Olympian who used to guide McKeever during Paralympic races. His brother told him that “people are going to look at you very differently. And it has to be that way.”

Today marks 15 years since the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. 🇨🇦

Canadian Brian McKeever won three gold medals out of his 20 Paralympic cross-country career medals on home soil at Vancouver 2010 alongside his guide, and brother, Robin. pic.twitter.com/mNRuSvMbNE

— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) March 12, 2025

'Team in transition'

McKeever describes his squad as a “team in transition”. There’s a bevvy of experience including Derek Zaplotinsky, Natalie Wilkie, Brittany Hudak and Mark Arendz, who has 12 Paralympic medals to his name. Arendz is a strong contender to add more after a stellar 2024-25 season with two Para biathlon World Championship gold medals and the overall World Cup champion title.

There are also junior up-and-comers that McKeever is working with.

“Some of the squad are young future disrupters, but for now the focus is on getting them to races, getting them competition exposure, encouraging them to see what the competition looks like, what travelling feels like, what’s it like to be on the road,” he said.

The younger skiers inject a fresh energy into the team, McKeever added.

“For some it’s their first time being away from home. It’s their first time to Europe. It’s their first time having to live without their parents. There’s the excitement of, ‘I just skied with this person’, who they have watched on TV and has the same disability as them,” he said.

“To have that bright eyed perspective is really good for everyone.” 

Road to Milano Cortina 2026

The squad has grappled with some injuries this year but overall, McKeever said there has been a solid training build towards the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympics.

“That has been the big stress for me. Feeling the frustrations of injured athletes and wanting them to be healthy above all,” the athlete-turned-coach said.

He hopes to take his squad for a training camp to Wanaka, New Zealand, during the southern hemisphere winter – a place the Canadian team has been travelling to since 2007.

“It’s important for the Para team to have some exposure to snow in the summer,” he said.

“Roller skiing is close to skiing, but it isn’t the same.”

As well as a hunger for Canadian podium finishes in Italy, McKeever also targets another prize. 

“It’s dangerous because there is a pizzeria right next to the finish line at Val di Fiemme,” he joked.

"It’s cliche but a good pizza is hard to beat.”

Tickets for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games are on sale at tickets.milanocortina2026.org. Approximately 89 per cent of the tickets for the Games, which feature six sports, cost EUR 35 or less. Please visit the Milano Cortina 2026 website for more information. 

Paralympic Winter Games tickets for @milanocortina26 are ON SALE NOW!

Link to get your tickets: https://t.co/yM7AwcmxVF @theonearmdan @ParaSnowSports pic.twitter.com/Yhs7bI5AuH

— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) March 6, 2025