Hours before he won silver in biathlon to start the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships, Collin Cameron was feeling the effects of a head cold coming on.
The 30-year-old sit-skier from Sudbury, Ont., didn't need a doctor's advice. He knew he had no choice but to skip his race Sunday and stayed in bed, sipping ginger tea and honey, and that paved the way for a golden opportunity the following day.
Cameron returned to the chilly slopes of Otway Nordic Centre for Monday's sprints and turned himself into a world champion, driving his sled to Canada's first gold medal of the championships.
"It's incredible, it's a dream come true," said Cameron. "I've been thinking about this since I got fourth at the sprint race at (the 2018 Paralympic) Games.
"I've had a really good start this year and I just wanted this real bad. It's my first world championship gold medal and it feels amazing."
Hundreds of spectators lined the sprint course, braving the coolest race conditions yet in the nine-day event. The start temperature Monday morning was -19.4 C, just above the -20 cutoff. Cameron was the fastest qualifier and won his semifinal race as well. He knew his family from Ontario was tuned into the live webcast, cheering him on for added inspiration, and he dug in his poles to reel in the sweetest win of his career.
"It's extra special, you get all the crowd, the volunteers and the locals out on the course and it gives you that extra push you need to cross that line," he said. "The plan was just ski hard and stay in front, and if I had to pass someone in the heats, just look for my spot and pass them and try not to get in the way and keep racing clean and just go for it as hard as I could and just see if I had three of those in me."
Daniel Cnossen of the United States won silver and Taras Rad of Ukraine captured bronze. In the women's sit-ski sprint, Oksana Masters of the U.S. won her third gold medal in a close race with silver medalist Andrea Eskau of Germany and American Kendall Gretsch
"I felt super-confident in the qualification, I think Robin (coach McKeever) said I qualified 10 seconds ahead or something like that and that some good boost for confidence and my skis were wicked-fast," said Cameron. "I felt really good and everyone around me believed in me today and I believe in myself and made it happen.
"To become a world champion in Canada, I'm not going to get this opportunity ever again in my career. It's something totally special and I'll remember it forever."
Cameron won three bronze medal at last year at the Paralympics in Pyeongchang and showed with his second-place finish in Saturday's mid-distance biathlon he was closing in on a victory.
"Collin came in here prepared to race, obviously, it was an amazing biathlon the other day and this is just a little icing on the cake, this is what he came here for," said McKeever. "I'm impressed because he's fighting through a cold, it's impressive he's able to keep his head together and do that."
Zebastian Modin of Sweden and his guide Emil Joensson captured gold in the men's visually-impaired race. Yuri Holub and guide Dzmitry Budzilovich of Ukraine finished with silver and Dmytro Suiarko and guide Vasyl Potapenko of Ukraine were the bronze medalists.
Carina Edlinger of Austria was the golden girl in the women's visually-impaired sprint, teaming up with guide Florian Rupert Seiwald. Oksana Shyshkova and guide Vitaliy Kazakov won silver and bronze went to Kara Klug and guide Martin Hartyl of Germany.
In the men's standing sprint, Benjamin Daviet of France won his third race of the championships by a comfortable margin, while Grygoril Vovchynsky of Ukraine collected silver. The battle for bronze went right to the wire and Taiki Kawayoye of Japan made a last-second kick to get his ski tip across the line just ahead of Hakon Olsrud of Norway.
Vilde Nilsen of Norway beat Liudmyla Liashenko of Ukraine for gold in the women's standing sprint, while Oleksandra Konokova of Ukraine won bronze. Nilsen also won Saturday's mid-distance cross-country event.
Two Canadian women - Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm and Emily Young of Kelowna - were among the six qualifiers in the standing final. Wilkie finished fourth and Young was sixth. Wilkie was also fourth in Saturday's mid-distance cross-country race.
"She's just coming off a cold, too," said McKeever.
"These are no excuses but it does take a lot out of you and she's doing well. She's young (18), she's probably the youngest competitor here in that girls field and she has a real positive future ahead of her in the sport.
Heading into a day of training today, the Canadian team now has one gold medal, two silver and a bronze to show for their world championship efforts.
"I'm really excited about how the whole staff and the program's working together," said McKeever.
"We have a strong tight bond within the team and that's what makes it fun, we're big family."
Ukraine sits atop the medal standings with three gold, eight silver and eight bronze. The U.S. is second with three gold, four silver and a bronze, while France ranks third with three gold and two bronze.
Racing resumes Wednesday at 10 a.m. with the biathlon sprints, followed on Thursday by the biathlon individual event. Friday is a training day. The cross-country open and mixed relays arte on Saturday and the completion ends Sunday with the cross-country distance races.
