Terrible weather on the foothills of Mount Fuji couldn’t prevent the world’s finest para-cyclists from delivering an array of memorable performances around the Fuji International Speedway circuit, starting with a gold rush for Great Britain…
Twenty-nine years after claiming her first Paralympic gold medal, Great Britain’s Dame Sarah Storey has made history by winning gold in the women’s C4-5 79.2km road race, becoming Great Britain’s most successful Paralympian of all time with her 17th gold medal. It was the 43-year-old’s third gold of the Tokyo 2020 Games, coming off the back of victories in the 3000m individual pursuit and the C5 time trial. For the third race in a row, Storey was shadowed all the way by countrywoman Crystal Lane-Wright, who won her third silver. France’s Marie Patouillet won bronze.
The longevity of Storey’s Paralympic journey is as impressive as her successes. She won 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley golds at the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games, winning a further three swimming golds before switching to cycling in 2008. Over the Beijing, London and Rio Games, she racked up a further nine track and road gold medals before completing the treble here in Tokyo to overtake swimmer Mike Kenny’s previous record gold-medal haul for a British Paralympian of 16. The most decorated Paralympic athlete of all time is American swimmer Trischa Zorn-Hudson, who won an incredible 55 medals, 41 of which were gold, between 1980 and 2004.
Great Britain’s medal-winning start to the day continued soon after in the men’s C1-3 79.2km road race when Benjamin Watson added to his time trial victory with gold in a time of 2:04:23. Watson led from the off and beat compatriot Finlay Graham by 1:20mins. This was 21-year-old Graham’s second silver of the Games after finishing second behind Britain’s Jaco van Gass in last week’s individual pursuit. Alexandre Léauté of France completed his Tokyo medal collection with bronze, after winning gold and silver in the C2 individual pursuit and C1-C3 time trial, respectively.
Watson’s journey is very different to Storey’s, as the 32-year-old explained to The Telegraph: “In 2016, I was watching the Olympics and Paralympics from a desk job in the UK. I was working in property as a chartered surveyor. I was 92kg, drinking a lot of beer and partying. Then I did a Talent ID programme in 2016 and I’ve gone from there. If you are inspired by this, go and try sports. Go and try para-cycling. Go and try anything that interests you. What have you got to lose?”
In the men’s T1-2 26.4km road race, China’s Jianxin Chen dominated proceedings, taking gold in a time of 51:07mins. The 34-year-old’s second gold of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games followed his T1-2 time trial victory. Belgium’s Tim Celen, third in the same time trial, won silver in 52:15mins with Colombia’s Juan Jose Betancourt Quiroga winning bronze (52:41mins).
Chen’s double triumph here in Japan mimics his 2019 UCI World Championships in Emmen, the Netherlands, after winning two silvers a year before in Italy. Chen’s often credited para-cycling for turning his life around, telling reporters in 2019: “Participating in sport has brought tremendous changes to my life and family. The most important thing is my self-confidence has been built up and others have a different view of me.”
Chen’s medal tally has helped China top the medal table. At time of writing, they’d won 73 gold medals compared to second-placed Great Britain’s 32.
The penultimate race of the day, the women’s T1-2 26.4km road race, took place like all of today’s races – under grey clouds and in torrential rain. But it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of Germany’s Jana Majunke who won Germany’s 10th gold medal of the Paralympic Games in a time of 1:00:58. The victory was 31-year-old Majunke’s second gold in Tokyo after winning the time trial. Countrywoman Angelika Dreock Kaeser added silver to her time trial bronze with America’s Jill Walsh in third.
A wet day drew to a close with the mixed H1-5 team relay (24.2km), a race dominated by Italy’s trio of Diego Colombari, Luca Mazzone and Paolo Cecchetto. It was Italy’s first gold medal on the Fuji International Speedway circuit and one they looked assured of from the off before extending their lead with every passing lap. Colombari brought it home in 52:31mins.
The major battle unfolded behind between the United States trio of Alfredo de los Santos, Ryan Pinney, Alicia Dana and France’s Loïc Vergnaud, Florian Jouanny and Riadh Tarsim. On the final lap, it looked like the USA would take silver. But Vergnaud had different ideas, powering around the saturated circuit to pass de los Santos and take silver in 53:03mins, 8secs in front ot the USA.
The final day of para-cycling at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games tomorrow will see another four gold medals awarded, starting with the men’s C4-5 road race.
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