Great Britain finished top of the para-cycling track programme at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 after a thrilling final day in the National Velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Team GB won three of the four gold medals on offer on Sunday, meaning they top the para-cycling track medal table with five golds.
Sophie Unwin and pilot Jenny Holl won gold in the Women’s B 3000m individual pursuit in 3’19”149, beating Ireland’s Katie-George Dunlevy and pilot Eve McCrystal. Lora Fachie, piloted by Corrine Hall, won bronze by beating fellow British pair Elizabeth Jordan and pilot Dannielle Khan, who’d won gold in the 1000m time trial.
Unwin and Holl were behind the Irish pairing for much of the race. But after the lead peaked at around one-and-a-half seconds, the British riders reeled them in, before taking the lead at the 2500m mark. They add gold to the bronze they won in the Women’s B 1000m time trial.
“We’ve had this as our goal from the [UCI] World Champs last year,” said Unwin. “We tried something new coming into this – a harder gear – and it started out horrifically, but it worked in the end.”
Unwin and Holl went into the final as favourites after smashing the world record set by compatriots Fachie and Hall in Tokyo, dropping it from 3’19”483 to 3’17”643 during qualifying.
Great Britain’s James Ball and pilot Steffan Lloyd won gold in the Men’s B 1000m time trial in a time of 58”964. Two-time gold medallist and 10-time UCI World Champion in this specialty, Neil Fachie, piloted by Matthew Rotherham, won silver. Germany’s Thomas Ulbricht and pilot Robert Förstemann, fasted in qualifying, claimed bronze.
“We knew it would be hard to beat Neil,” said Ball. “I think the last time I won a kilo [against him] was in 2019!”
“To win with one of my best friends is unbelievable,” added Lloyd. “He’s so determined, he never gives up. I’m so happy.”
Great Britain then defended their title in the open C1-C5 750m team sprint, beating Spain in the gold medal final. Australia beat France in the match for bronze.
Great Britain’s winning trio of Kadeena Cox, Jaco van Gass and Jody Cundy had qualified fastest, and carried that form over to the final where they beat the Spanish trio of Ricardo Ten Argiles, Pablo Jaramillo Gallardo and Alfonso Cabello Llamas. This was Gass’ second gold of the Games, while Cundy’s was the 10th of his career across swimming and cycling.
In the Women’s C5 3000m individual pursuit, France’s Marie Patouillet added gold to the silver she won in the C4-C5 500m time trial with victory against countrywoman Heidi Gaugain.
The 36-year-old beat 19-year-old Gaugain with a time of 3’35”691. Gaugain finished in 3’37”723 after qualifying fastest in the morning. New Zealand’s Nicole Murray beat Italy’s Claudia Cretti in the bronze match.
“I was so tired in the final but said to myself, give it everything you’ve got and don’t regret a thing,” Patouillet said after the race. “The public helped me enormously in the last four laps. My legs were hurting. I gritted my teeth!”
Para-cycling continues at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 on Wednesday 4 September with the road time trials followed by three days of road races.
Results available here
Para-cycling sport classes on the track
C – Cycle: conventional bike with adaptations if necessary
B – Tandem: for visually impaired athletes with sighted pilot
Group C is divided into different sport classes, with the lower the number indicating a higher level of impairment.