Sarah Storey won her third gold medal at London 2012, and the 10th of her two-sport Paralympic career, with victory in the C5 Time Trial on the first morning of Road Cycling at Brands Hatch. [Read more...]
Sarah Storey Golden Girl
September 5, 2012 By 1 Comment
Medal Hopes For Day 7
September 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment
We have plenty more medal contenders competing today and hoping to add to the coveted collection of medals achieved so far.
Read on to find out who you should be keeping an eye on today… [Read more...]
Colbourne On For Second Medal
August 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Mark Colbourne smashed the world record and guaranteed at least a second silver medal of the London 2012 Paralympics, qualifying for the C1 3km Pursuit final at the Velodrome on Friday.
Londoner Shaun McKeown also secured a track medal and will compete in the final of the C3 event in the afternoon session, while defending champion Darren Kenny competes for bronze.
Welshman Colbourne, who won 1km Time Trial silver on Thursday, became the first athlete in his category – for riders with the most serious disabilities – to break the four-minute mark and he did it emphatically with a time of three minutes 53.970 seconds.
He also improved by seven seconds on the time he set to win February’s World Championships, catching world bronze medallist Rodrigo Lopez in the process, to the delight of the crowd. But he was unsurprised with the achievement, saying:
“The schedule we had was just under four minutes and I think the crowd certainly helped me on.
“Yesterday I was very proud to be the first medallist for ParalympicsGB. However, this event is certainly more my bag really, so I’m looking forward to the final later on.”
At 15:28 this afternoon, Colbourne will race Li Zhang Yu, the Chinese rider who beat him in Thursday’s 1km final, and whose own world record stood for just 10 minutes in qualifying.
McKeown, 22, will face American Joseph Berenyi, who broke Kenny’s previous world record in qualifying fastest in the C3 event. They race for gold at 16:22 this afternoon. Kenny himself was fourth fastest and faces world champion David Nicholas of Australia in the race for third overall.
More info at www.paralympics.org.uk/gb
McGlynn Scoops Silver
August 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Great Britain’s Aileen McGlynn was dethroned as Paralympic B 1km Time Trial champion but secured tandem silver on the second morning at the Velodrome.
McGlynn, who is visually impaired, and her sighted pilot Helen Scott, recorded their fastest time on a tandem together, covering the four laps in one minute 9.469 seconds but it was not enough to hold off double world champion Felicity Johnson of Australia, piloted by Stephanie Morton.
“I’m a little bit disappointed, but at the same time I’m really pleased to win a silver and it’s good to have got a PB as a team together,” said Glaswegian McGlynn, 39.
“I’d like to thank the crowd for coming along and supporting us all so much,” she said of another loud, full house of 6,000 at the track.
The Aussie duo beat the previous Paralympic record, set in Beijing by McGlynn and former partner Ellen Hunter, who stepped away from the sport in 2009.
Scott, a 22 year old from Halesowen, was part of GB’s able-bodied under 23 sprint academy and could feature in a future Olympic team.
Britain’s second pair, Liverpool’s Lora Turnham and pilot Fiona Duncan, were fourth in 1:11.479, an improvement on sixth place at the World Championships in February and another personal best.
Twenty-three year old Turnham’s target is the longer pursuit event on Sunday, where she expects to win her first Paralympic medal.
“We did a PB. We’ve never gone faster and that’s all we can do,” she said. “We don’t train for the Kilo. Sunday is our main event and we’re hoping to podium there.”
Duncan added: “We know we’re in great shape. We’re fitter and stronger that we’ve ever been.”
For more news and pictures from London 2012 go to the ParalympicsGB website: www.paralympics.org.uk/gb
