Richardson lands first British gold at Paralympics

Published on Sunday 7 September 2008 11:36

Simon Richardson won Great Britain's first gold medal of the Paralympic Games in Beijing today with a stunning performance in the men's LC3/4 one-kilometre time-trial.

The 41-year-old, making his Paralympic debut, set a world record of one minute 14.936 seconds to take the first track cycling medal of the Games and extend Britain's dominance of the Laoshan Velodrome.

Seven of 10 track golds in last month's Olympics landed in British hands, while two of the finals were all-British affairs.

The Paralympic riders were hoping for similar dominance and Richardson delivered.

But it was an unexpected triumph for the former club rider from Porthcawl in Wales, who was targeting the three-kilometre individual pursuit as his main event.

"It was a real shock to get the gold – we didn't come here for the kilometre," said Richardson, who was injured in a road accident in 2001 and only took up the sport again after being told by doctors he could end up in a wheelchair if he remained inactive.

"It's just an extra bonus. I had to go out there and try my best and it worked out perfectly today.

"This is my third year on a bike after my operations and everything.

"From club-level rider to here in three years is a real shock."

Richardson revealed that British Cycling's regime contributed to his success, including the Olympic one-kilometre champions in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004.

"My bike I've got now is Jason Queally's frame and Chris Hoy's handlebars," added Richardson.

The Union flag was soon flying high once again as Aileen McGlynn successfully defended her title in the women's B&VI 1-3 one-kilometre time-trial.

The 35-year-old defending champion from Glasgow lowered her own world record with a time of 1min 9.066secs as she and pilot rider Ellen Hunter retained the title they won in Athens.

McGlynn powered around the track to finish ahead of Australians Felicity Johnson and Lindy Hou, who took silver and bronze respectively.

McGlynn, who is registered blind, and Hunter were ecstatic after the triumph.

"We're absolutely delighted to have broken the world record and the Paralympic record," said McGlynn.

"It was a hard ride but we knew we had it in us to do the time."

The duo were expected to deliver, but did not let that affect their performance.

"You just have to put the training in and have confidence in the training you do all year long and it's all going to work out on the day," added McGlynn.

"We knew we had it in the bank to do a good time."

Darren Kenny then made it a hat-trick of golds for Britain, successfully defending his CP3 individual pursuit title with a stunning performance.

The 38-year-old from Dorset smashed his own world record by six seconds in the heats and overtook his final opponent, South Korea's Jin Yong-sik, after little more than 1,000 metres of the final to claim his third Paralympic title.

Kenny – a double gold medallist in Athens four years ago having also triumphed in the CP3/4 one kilometre time-trial – was thrilled.

"It all went according to plan, no problems at all," said Kenny.

"I'm overjoyed and relieved to get the gold.

"We've put a lot of work into it so it's just the relief that it's done."