Before leaving Turin we reflected on the 2006 Winter Paralympics and our countryman Brian McKeever’s treble gold medal performance in the partially sighted Nordic skiing and biathlon events. Brian started losing his sight aged 19 due to Stargardt's disease. Guided by his older brother Robin and then childhood friend Erik Carleton he went on to win a total of 16 Paralympic gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals! You might recall the brothers starring in a Toyota Superbowl advert in 2022. Watch here and get inspired!
Brian & Erik courtesy of skitrax.com
Brian’s nephew Xavier will be competing in Cortina, see here for the roster of all Canada’s Olympians competing in 2026.
Our route took us around the south side of beautiful Lake Garda and Lisette suggested we stay a while and enjoy the Colombare peninsular. For this she wins a pair of Canada running socks.
Leaving Colombare it was time to head for Cortina, our journey’s 10th and final Olympic site, carrying our torch to finally light the Olympic flame. The Olympics are not new to Cortina or officially Cortina d’Ampezzo, as they were very successfully held here in 1956. It was the first venue to have all the events Winter Olympic events held in the same place. The opening ceremony is remembered for the torch bearing speed skater Guido Caroli tripping over a microphone cable draped across the ice but somehow juggling the torch, getting back to his feet with the flame still burning [NB those of you running on the Goose on the final leg of our torch journey!]. Here is a photo of the incident.
Courtesy of Olympedia website
Other highlights include Austria’s Toni Sailer a.k.a. “The Blitz from Kitz” (Kitzbühel), comfortably winning all three alpine events, and then going on to have a starring career in the movies! Here is a photo of the handsome devil!
Courtesy of Olympedia
These games are also famous for ski jump’s Fosbury Flop moment! The two Finns, Antti Hyvärinen and Aulis Källakorpi, were early adopters of Windisch and Däscher techniques whereby the skis are held parallel and the arms are held back by the sides of the body. Meanwhile all of the other competitors were still ‘Superman-ing it’! The Finns won gold and silver. So, next time you trip on a trail run, or head over your handlebars, remember hold your arms back by your sides because i) you will go much further and, ii) you won’t break your wrists or collarbones!
The crew stopped 12 km short of Cortina so that the torch can be carried the final 12km tomorrow in the STARR torch relay on the Galloping Goose. Maggie was carrying the torch as we entered the camp, and wins a Kodak Charmera thumb sized camera! On winning the camera Maggie said, allegedly, something along the lines of “ the Charmera is so cute and its tiny size makes it perfect for taking on all STARR runs its retro photos are perfect for publishing on the STARRs Insta site! STARRs are going to go viral!”.
Congratulations to the 17 STARRS that got out there every day and completed more than 3,000 km or running and walking over the month of January. Now that the flame has arrived, let’s hope it inspires Sid and our other Canadian athletes and para-athletes to achieve their dreams in Cortina!