Paralympics 2008 - Track - Day Three
9th Sept 2008, Laoshon Velodrome, Beijing, China
Report: Eddie Allen
Event Schedule
Men's Individual Pursuit (LC 3)
Men's Individual Pursuit (LC 4)
Women's Ind. Pursuit (B&VI 1-3)
Men's 1km Time Trial (CP 3)
Men's 1km Time Trial (CP 4)
Men's 1km Time Trial (LC 1)
Men's 1km Time Trial (LC 2)
A packed schedule of seven events on day three from the Laoshon Velodrome, focussed on those two most clinical of track cycling disciplines, the individual pursuit and the kilo. Even as a neutral there's plenty to shout about, but GB hopes are high today with Simon Richardson competing in the pursuit, fresh from his surprise win in the kilo. Golden girls Aileen McGlynn and Ellen Hunter are also back on track in the Women's Pursuit. Gold medallist Darren Kenny is back in action in the CP3 Kilo event, alongside Rik Waddon who gets his first outing of the games. Mark Bristow also makes his debut in the LC1 Kilo while in the LC2 category, Jody Cundy is gunning for Kilo glory.
Men's Individual Pursuit (LC 3)
Richardson Takes Gold and New World Record
Above: Simon Richardson smashed the world record in qualifying (LC3 Pursuit)
GB's Simon Richardson once again started the day with a bang by setting a new world record in qualfying for the Men's Pursuit (LC3) and is joined in the final by Fujita of Japan, Graf of Germany and Thirionet of France. Richardson beat his nearest rival by four seconds and smashed Thirionet's previous record by eight seconds, in a qualifier which saw the top three riders all go inside the previous world record pace.
So came the final, which Richardson won by a full 6 seconds from Japan's Fujita. In the ride-off for bronze, Germany's Tobias Graf took the last remaining medal from Thirionet of France. Speaking to the BBC afterwards, Simon said, "I'm still in total shock - two golds in three days is unbelievable. I can't remember a thing about the race except with about four laps to go I went around the bend and saw Fujita in front of me and I knew then I was going to win gold."
Gold
1 RICHARDSON Simon LC3 GBR 3:49.214
2 FUJITA Masaki LC3 JPN 3:55.535
Bronze
1 GRAF Tobias LC3 GER 3:57.510
2 THIRIONET Laurent LC3 FRA 3:59.020
Results - Qualifying
1 RICHARDSON Simon LC3 GBR 3:48.178 (WR)
2 FUJITA Masaki LC3 JPN 3:52.253
3 GRAF Tobias LC3 GER 3:54.539
4 THIRIONET Laurent LC3 FRA 3:57.229
5 MACCHI Fabrizio LC3 ITA 4:00.402
6 GARCIA Antonio LC3 ESP 4:00.698
7 STAUFFER Erich LC3 AUT 4:06.174
8 MILTON Michael LC3 AUS 4:10.439
9 BAHIER Stephane LC3 FRA 4:12.023
10 ZHANG Lu LC3 CHN 4:21.751
DSQ CARVALHO Flaviano LC3 BRA
Men's Individual Pursuit (LC4)
Another world record tumbled on the fast boards of Laoshon as Paulo Vigano comfortably made the final, beating his nearest rival by 6 seconds and breaking the World Record in the process. His performance would have placed him 5th in the LC3 category. The final saw a repeat of the qualifying positions, with Vigano taking gold by 8 seconds from Teuber of Germany. Meanwhile in the bronze ride-off, Mendez of Spain comfortably beat Winkler of Germany.
Results - Final
Gold
1 VIGANO Paolo LC4 ITA 4:02.782
2 TEUBER Michael LC4 GER 4:10.113
Bronze
1 MENDEZ Juan Jose LC4 ESP 4:14.984
2 WINKLER Erich LC4 GER 4:21.550
Results - Qualifying
1 VIGANO Paolo LC4 ITA 3:59.741 (WR)
2 TEUBER Michael LC4 GER 4:05.932
3 MENDEZ Juan Jose LC4 ESP 4:16.686
4 WINKLER Erich LC4 GER 4:17.736
5 SENSKA Pierre LC4 GER 4:25.253
6 ZAHN Anthony LC4 USA 4:27.048
7 DABERNIG Wolfgang LC4 AUT 4:40.614
DNS HOHLRIEDER Alexander LC4 AUT DNS
Women's Ind. Pursuit (B&VI 1-3)
Gold for McGlynn and Hunter
Above: Ellen Hunter and Aileen McGlynn (B&VI Pursuit)
GB's McGlynn and Hunter qualify for the Gold Final behind Hou and Gallagher of Australia, with USA and New Zealand also joining them. The GB duo started really hot with a sensational 1:12 opening 1km, but the Australians, though slower out of the gate were able to claw back a one second advantage in the latter half of the race.
The final came and McGlynn and Hunter repeated the fast start of their qualifier but managed to temper their effort better and hold off the challenge of Australia's Lindy Hou and Toireasa Gallagher to claim their second gold of the Games. In the bronze medal ride-off Whitsell and Woodring of the USA beat Parsons and Farrell of New Zealand by 6 seconds to take the bronze.
Speaking to the BBC after the event, Aileen said: "All the hours of training we do, all the hard work is all worth it on these days. You get the reward on days like these and all of the funding we are gettting is paying off."
Pilot Ellen Hunter added: "We've been training hard for the last four years and we needed to go out and show the coaches that we deserved our place in this fantastic team."
Result - Final
Gold
1 McGLYNN Aileen B/VI, HUNTER Ellen PLT GBR 3:39.809
2 HOU Lindy B/VI, GALLAGHER Toireasa PLT AUS 3:41.494
Bronze
1 WHITSELL Karissa B/VI, WOODRING Mackenzie PLT USA 3:41.521
2 184 PARSONS Jayne B/VI, FARRELL Annaliisa PLT NZL 3:47.900
Result - Qualifying
1 HOU Lindy B/VI, GALLAGHER Toireasa PLT AUS 3:38.085
2 McGLYNN Aileen B/VI, HUNTER Ellen PLT GBR 3:40.997
3 WHITSELL Karissa B/VI, WOODRING Mackenzie PLT USA 3:42.237
4 PARSONS Jayne, FARRELL Annaliisa PLT B/VI NZL 3:47.271
5 WALSH Catherine Mary B/VI, HICKEY Joanna PLT IRL 3:50.515
6 FIADOTAVA Iryna B/VI, DRAZDOVA Alena PLT BLR 3:54.322
7 OUELLET Genevieve B/VI, HUPIN Mathilde PLT CAN 3:54.909
8 LOPEZ Ana B/VI, GIRONA Marina PLT ESP 3:59.328
9 PARKHAMOVICH Iryna B/VI BLR 4:02.820
Mens 1km Time Trial (CP3)
Gold and New World Record for Kenny, Silver for Waddon
Above: Darren Kenny smashed his own world record to take Gold (CP3 Kilo)
Darren Kenny's golden streak continues with a stunning Gold and new world record in the kilo. Darren beat his own previous record by over 4 seconds with a stunning 1:08.668. Both GB boys were in a class of their own, a full 5 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, with Waddon taking silver with a time of 1:11.161, also well within Kenny's previous record set back in Bordeaux in 2007. Waddon rode before Kenny and broke Kenny's previous record, blitzing everyone who'd gone before him and raising the bar for his teamate, who was last on the track. The Gold looked to be in the bag for Rik, however, Kenny produced an awesome ride to take the top honours.
Above: Rik Waddon showed he was a true force to be reckoned with, taking the world record before Kenny's ride (CP3 Kilo)
Speaking after the event Darren said: "It's great to win the gold but it's double-edged. We're a team and you want everyone to win but unfortunately you can't do that. Luckily it was me this time. I was fully expecting Rik to break the world record. We train together so I know what a good rider he is. "
Rik said: "Me posting a time like that pushes Darren. It's quite heavy on the track today so it's not as fast as it should have been. I can only do my best - I can't control the other riders." Speaking to the BBC, Waddon said: "I'm more than pleased. You can't do any more than a world record. Darren and I push each other in training and you hope it will pay off for one of you. To have gold and silver in this event is great."
Results - Final
1 KENNY Darren CP3 GBR 1:08.668 (WR)
2 WADDON Rik CP3 GBR 1:11.161
3 KVASNICKA Tomas CP3 CZE 1:17.670
4 OCHOA Javier CP3 ESP 1:18.523
5 LOPEZ Rodrigo CP3 ARG 1:20.572
6 QUEVILLON Jean CP3 CAN 1:21.348
7 McDOUGALL Brayden CP3 CAN 1:22.780
8 ECKHARD Maurice Far CP3 ESP 1:27.449
Men's 1km Time Trial (CP4)
Yet another world record fell in the CP4 Kilo, with Japan's Masashi Ishii taking Gold ahead of Czech Bouska and Australia's Christopher Scott.
Results - Final
1 ISHII Masashi CP4 JPN 1:08.771 (WR)
2 BOUSKA Jiri CP4 CZE 1:11.189
3 SCOTT Christopher CP4 AUS 1:12.229
4 NEIRA Cesar CP4 ESP 1:15.390
5 PLEKKER Janos CP4 RSA 1:15.547
6 JIRKA Lubos CP4 CZE 1:16.013
7 SMYTH Enda CP4 IRL 1:16.074
8 FARRELL Michael CP4 USA 1:17.594
Men's 1km Time Trial (LC1)
Gold and New World Record for Mark Bristow
Above: Mark Bristow joins GB's exclusive Golden club
GB's Mark Bristow broke the world record on his way to Paralympic gold in the Men's LC1 Kilo. Bristow took the record in a time of 1:08.873, beating Australian Michael Gallagher's previous record set in Bordeaux back in 2007. The race was won in the first two laps, with Mark setting a blistering pace with a sub 20 second opening lap. He pressed home his advantage in lap two, going fastest. All he had to do was grit his teeth and hang on for the gold. Silver was taken by Zhang of China, with Wolfgang Sacher of Germany taking bronze.
After his win, Mark said: "I didn't come here as favourite so it's a relief! I feel part of the team now. I've put the hard work in now so I'm really happy."
1 BRISTOW Mark LC1 GBR 1:08.873 (WR)
2 ZHANG Kuidong LC1 CHN 1:10.475
3 SACHER Wolfgang LC1 GER 1:10.812
4 GALLAGHER Michael LC1 AUS 1:11.008
5 EIBECK Wolfgang LC1 AUT 1:11.238
6 HAMMER Mario LC1 GER 1:11.335
7 MILLER Cathal Gustavus LC1 IRL 1:11.824
8 GATTRINGER Manfred LC1 AUT 1:12.173
9 GOHR Soelito LC1 BRA 1:13.562
10 RENGGLI Ivan LC1 SUI 1:13.725
Men's 1km Time Trial (LC2)
Gold and New World Record for Jody Cundy
In his first Paralympics, Jody Cundy smashed his own world record by 3 seconds and took gold in the LC2 kilo almost 7 seconds ahead of Czech rider Jiri Jezek. Cundy was fastest on all four laps and recorded an average speed of almost 55 kmh. Speaking to the BBC after the event, Jody said "I have been ready to go for the last few weeks. I can't believe the time I have come up with. The last two and half years have been fabulous. I could not have asked for anything more."
1 CUNDY Jody LC2 GBR 1:05.466 (WR)
2 JEZEK Jiri LC2 CZE 1:11.182
3 ZHENG Yuanchao LC2 CHN 1:11.198
4 NOVAK Carol Eduard LC2 ROU 1:12.739
5 GRANADO Amador LC2 ESP 1:12.760
6 BOURGAULT Eric LC2 CAN 1:14.387
7 BOYEN Jan LC2 BEL 1:14.881
8 ALCAIDE Roberto LC2 ESP 1:16.062
9 CHACON Luis LC2 COL 1:16.917
10 JAHR Morten LC2 NOR 1:17.050
Above: Jody Cundy, LC2 Kilo Olympic champion and world record holder.
Behind the Scenes on Day Three
Some great shots of some of the off track action courtesy of Neil Smith
Above: Recently crowned Olympic Champion suddenly finds himself the centre of attention
Above: The Cundy family showed their support through the medium of the T shirt
Above: Jody and Mum, plus a very patriotic sheep
Above: Ellen Hunter is congratulated by her husband Paul
Above: Mark Bristow signing autographs and proudly sporting his gold medal.