Day three of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games saw another five para-cycling gold medals up for grabs. And once again, world records were shattered.
Proceedings got underway at the Izu Velodrome with the women’s C1-C3 500m time trial, which proved to be a record-breaking opener as Australia’s Amanda Reid (C2) lowered her existing world record to take gold.
True to her aboriginal origins, the 24-year-old para-cyclist wore an indigenous design on her speedsuit, which seemed to inspire her as she shot from the gates to clock a time of 38.487, nearly one-and-a-half seconds quicker than the 39.918 world record she set in Brisbane last December. The Netherlands’ Alyda Norbruis (39.002) and China’s Wangwei Qian (41.403) finished second and third, respectively, the latter shattering the C1 world record by over 2secs.
For Reid, it was one better than the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games where she took silver, and her smile was infectious as she told Australian media outlet Channel Seven what gold meant to her. “It means everything to me to be a proud Guring-gai and Wemba-Wemba woman and to represent my people back home, seeing as there’s only three of us on the team [with Samantha Schmidt and Ruby Storm]. I’m hoping I can get more aboriginal disabled athletes to get into sport.”
Next up was the men’s C1-C3 1000m time trial, with an element of déjà-vu: the men who lit up the Izu Velodrome on day two continued to burn bright, taking all three medals. The gold medal went to China’s Zhangyu Li in the C1 category thanks to a new world-record time of 1:08.347 (an athlete factor of 93.46 resulted in a gold medal time of 1:03.877). Incredibly, that was nearly 3secs faster than Li’s own record set in Milton (Canada) at the 2020 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships. Gold added to Li’s bronze, which he won in yesterday’s C1 3000m individual pursuit.
The prodigious Alexandre Léauté of France added silver to the gold he won in the men’s C2 3000m individual pursuit thanks to a time of 1:09.211 (an athlete factor of 93.96 resulted in a gold medal time of 1:05.031), also breaking his own C2 world record set in Milton. And bronze went to Great Britain’s Jaco van Gass (1:05.569)… and yes, with a new world record, lowering Alexey Obydennov’s time of 1:06.131, set seven years ago at altitude in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Kadeena Cox won Great Britain’s third para-cycling gold of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics with a memorable world record in the C4 500m time trial of 34.812 (an athlete factor of 98.91 resulted in a gold medal time of 34.433). Thirty-year-old Cox was the last rider out to relegate Canada’s Kate O’Brien to silver (35.830, an athlete factor of 98.91 resulting in a time of 35.439). The Netherlands’ Caroline Groot won bronze in 35.599.
Cox’s victory saw her retain the title she won at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, where she also won gold on the athletics track in the T38 400m race. In Tokyo, she’s focused solely on cycling, a fact she alluded to after victory. “I think I can call myself a cyclist now and I definitely wasn’t in Rio,” she said. “In 2016 I was fresh and raw, and it was grit and determination that got me the gold medal. Now, I have more technical abilities. I understand the track far more and am more confident in my abilities. It puts me in a different position. I am more nervous but also more excited.”
Slovakia’s Jozef Metelka, fresh from winning bronze in day two’s C4 men’s 1000m time trial, looked the man to beat in the men’s C4 4000m individual pursuit after qualifying in a new world record of 4:22.772 at an average speed of nearly 55km/hr. Thirty-four-year-old Metelka would face Romania’s Carol-Eduard Novak in the final, but the Romanian would have his work cut out, his qualifying time being nearly 9secs behind Metelka’s.
And so it proved as Metelka looked unbeatable, lapping Novak to take gold and with it his fifth Paralympic medal after winning a gold and two silver at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games on top of yesterday’s bronze. Metelka’s gold was also Slovakia’s first medal of the Tokyo Games. Colombia’s Diego German Duenas beat Ireland’s Ronan Grimes to win bronze.
The final medals of day three were be contested in the men’s C5 4000m individual pursuit with France’s Dorian Foulon the clear favourite after qualifying in a new world record time of 4:18.274. The 23-year-old would seek to hunt down Australia’s Alistair Donohoe in the final, but only just, as Donohoe kept the Ukraine’s Yehor Dementyev out of the gold-medal race by just two-tenths of a second.
In the final, Foulon showed his class by gradually and methodically stretching his lead with every lap, eventually winning in a time of 4:20.757. Donohoe fought valiantly to the end, recording a time of 4:24.095. Foulon’s gold adds to the C5 4000m title he won at the 2020 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Milton. Foulon’s impressive palmares also includes the distinction of becoming the first para-cyclist to compete in the able-bodied Tour de l’Avenir in 2019.
Dementyev carried over his qualifying form to win bronze in 4:22.746, nearly 5secs clear of France’s Kevin Cunff.
The final day of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games track cycling competitions takes place tomorrow (Saturday 28 August) with a further three gold medals on offer.
C – Cyclist: conventional bike with some minor adaptations
T – Tricycle: three-wheeled bike
B – Blind: tandem
H – Handbike
Each group is divided into different sport classes depending on the severity of the handicap