Paralympic Games: First defeat as Aileen McGlynn claims silver

Published on 01/09/2012 00:30

Aileen McGlynn relinquished her Paralympic tandem one-kilometre time-trial title and had to settle for silver alongside pilot Helen Scott at the London 2012 velodrome.

On a day in which Britain claimed one gold, three silvers and a bronze on the track, McGlynn, who is partially sighted, and Scott clocked one minute 9.469 seconds to finish 0.550secs behind Australia’s Felicity Johnson and Stephanie Morton, who stole victory in a Paralympic record of 1min 8.919secs.

It was the first time McGlynn has tasted Paralympic defeat in the event after the 39-year-old from Glasgow won gold in Athens and Beijing with Ellen Hunter as pilot.

But McGlynn and Scott, 22, from Halesowen, are determined to chase glory in Brazil in four years’ time after finishing second to the Australian pair at the last two World Championships and now in London.

“This was our main focus,” said a disappointed McGlynn. “We came into it really well prepared and we thought we had it. It’s bike racing, it doesn’t always go the way you wanted to.”

Scott was a team-mate of Olympic rider Jess Varnish before turning her attentions to tandem racing in April 2010 and although she has the potential to switch to the Olympic disciplines, her goal remains Paralympic glory. She said: “I still want a gold medal with Aileen. That’s our mission and we’re not going to stop until we get it.”

New Zealand’s Phillipa Gray and Laura Thompson claimed bronze in 1:11.245, with Lora Turnham and Fiona Duncan fourth in 1:11.479.

Mark Colbourne experienced ecstasy and Jody Cundy despair as a dramatic second day unfolded at the velodrome.

Colbourne claimed Paralympic gold for the first time with victory in the men’s C1 three-kilometre individual pursuit in a world record time.

Cundy, though, experienced only anger and tears while launching expletives at officials after he was denied a restart in the C4/C5 one-kilometre time-trial, an event in which he had not been beaten in six years. Cundy believed the start gate had failed to open sufficiently for his ride, but officials deemed rider error was to blame and the 33-year-old was denied a restart.

There was a happier conclusion to the day for Colbourne, who set a second world record in the space of a few hours in winning gold in three minutes 53.881 seconds. China’s Li Zhang Yu was second.

“It’s a dream come true for me,” said Colbourne, who broke his back in a paragliding accident. “I only had 18 months (to prepare). We had to raise the bar, increase the training and push me to my limits. Today was the result of all of that. ”

The C4/5 one-kilometre time-trial was won by Spaniard Alfonso Cabello in a C5 world record of 1:05.947, with world champion Jon-Allan Butterworth, who lost his left arm while serving in Iraq with the RAF in 2007, taking silver in 1:05.985.

Shaun McKeown and Darren Kenny finished with medals in the C3 3km individual pursuit.

Kenny responded to a poor qualification display to finish with a world record of 3:35.257, but only bronze.

“I got the tactics wrong this morning,” said Kenny, who crashed into a metal post making his way from the athletes’ village to the velodrome the previous day, damaging his knee. “I was just pleased to get my record back, that was what was left.”

McKeown was second in 3:38.637 as Joseph Berenyi of the United States won gold in 3:37.912.