Russia Dominates Cross-Country Events in Final Day of Paralympic Competition

            As they have for the entirety of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympics, Russian skiers dominated at Whistler Paralympic Park on Sunday, winning a total of 8 Medals in the Cross-Country 1 km Sprint.  Russia has amassed 22 Medals in Cross-Country Skiing in these Paralympics—far more than any other country—including 7 Gold Medals.  Sergey Shilov won his second Cross-Country Gold in the Men’s 1 km Sitting Sprint, with countrymen Irek Zaripov taking Silver (adding to the 2 Golds he already won in Cross-Country events) and Vladimir Kiselev winning Bronze.  Russian Kirill Mikhaylov won his fourth Paralympic Medal on the final day of competition, taking the Silver in the Men’s 1 km Standing Sprint, and Russia made its presence felt again in the Men’s Visually-Impaired 1 km Sprint, when Nikolay Polukhin (along with his guide Andrey Tokarev) won a Silver Medal, his second Medal in Cross-Country.  Russian women also performed well in the 1 km Sprint on Sunday.  Mikhalina Lysova with guide Alexey Ivanov, and Liubov Vasilyeva with guide Natalia Yakimova won Silver and Bronze in the Visually-Impaired division, respectively.  Anna Burmistrova won her second Paralympic Medal by taking home a Bronze in the Women’s 1 km Standing Sprint.           Not to be outdone, Canada had its own Gold Medalist in Brian McKeever who, along with his guide Robin McKeever, won his third Gold on Sunday in the Men’s Visually-Impaired 1 km Sprint.  Japan too had its Paralympic star shine brightly on Sunday, as Yoshihiro Nitta won his second Gold of these Games by finishing first in the Men’s 1 km Standing Sprint.  The United States went Medal-less in the event, with the only one competitor, Monica Bascio, reaching the Semifinals in any version of the 1 km Sprint (she did so in the Women’s Sitting Sprint).  The Cross-Country competitions were not kind to the American skiers, none of whom medaled in any Cross-Country event.

            The day, however, belonged to the Russians.  The tremendous performances by Russian Nordic skiers on Sunday acted as the exclamation point on their brilliant showing at these Paralympic Games.

            For more information on the Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympics, please visit www.WheelchairSportsFederation.org.