Paralympics 2008 - Track - Day Four
10th Sept 2008
Laoshon Velodrome, Beijing, China
Report: Eddie Allen
Photos: Larry Hickmott and PA Photos
Event Schedule:
Men's Sprint (B&VI 1-3)
Women's Ind. Pursuit (LC 3-4/CP 3)
Women's Ind. Pursuit (LC 1-2/CP 4)
Men's Team Sprint (LC1-4 CP3/4)
Another day that defied belief for GB. Gold for Kappes and Storey in the Sprint. Gold for GB in the Team Sprint. Gold for Sarah Storey in the Women's Pursuit and an astonishing world record. The track racing comes to an end with the medal tally at 12 Golds and 1 Silver for the GB Cycling Team.
Men's Sprint (B&VI 1-3)
New Paralympic Record for Kappes and Storey
Above: Anthony Kappes (left) and Barney Storey (right) celebrate their sprint gold. (Photo credit: AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)
Qualifing:
Kappes and Storey started the final day on the track with a bang posting a new Paralympic record of 10.536 in the flying 200m. Here's who joined them in the quarter finals:
Results - Qualifying
1 KAPPES Anthony B/VI, STOREY Barney PLT GBR 10.536secs 68.337kmh (PR)
2 DEMERY Ben B/VI, HOPKINS Shaun PLT AUS 10.629secs 67.739kmh
3 KILPATRICK Gavin B/VI, THOMSON Michael PLT RSA 10.641secs 67.662kmh
4 OSHIRO Tatsuyuki B/VI, TAKAHASHI Hitoshi PLT JPN 10.842secs 66.408kmh
5 COWIE Brian B/VI, SMIBERT Devon PLT CAN 11.373secs 63.307kmh
6 DELANEY Michael B/VI, PEELO David Patrick PLT IRL 11.460secs 62.827kmh
7 ARCINIEGAS Carlos B/VI, CARRENO Juan PLT COL 11.502secs 62.597kmh
8 NATTKEMPER Lujan B/VI, FERRARI Juan PLT ARG 12.163secs 59.195kmh
Quarter Finals:
Kappes and Storey march on, after beating their opponents Lujan Nattkemper and Juan Ferrari of Argentina with a straight 2:0. All four quarter finals were decided with straight 2:0 victories, with arch rivals Demery and Hopkins of Australia also going through. With the GB boys drawn against the Japanese pairing, it looked like we were set for a GB vs Australia showdown if things went to form...
Result
Through to Semis:
KAPPES Anthony B/VI, STOREY Barney GBR
DEMERY Ben B/VI, HOPKINS Shaun PLT AUS
KILPATRICK Gavin B/VI, THOMSON Michael PLT RSA
OSHIRO Tatsuyuki B/VI, TAKAHASHI Hitoshi PLT JPN
Semi Final
Once again, Kappes and Storey beat their opponents in a straight 2:0 to claim their place in the final, while Demery and Hopkins of Australia claimed their place in the final after winning their first match and their opponents being relegated from the second match. So the predicted final was on the cards.
Through to Final
Gold
KAPPES Anthony B/VI, STOREY Barney GBR
DEMERY Ben B/VI, HOPKINS Shaun PLT AUS
Bronze
KILPATRICK Gavin B/VI, THOMSON Michael PLT RSA
OSHIRO Tatsuyuki B/VI, TAKAHASHI Hitoshi PLT JPN
Final
So the final came and unpurturbed by the class of their opponents, Kappes and Storey stormed to a 2:0 victory over the Australian pairing, to claim their third gold medal of the games. Speaking to the BBC after the win, Storey said: "With all the medals being won in the team it just gets you going more and more. Kappes added, ""We crashed three weeks ago and that really hindered our progress. As a result we concentrated on the kilo and the sprint fell by the wayside a little bit. This morning's race felt like we were blowing the cobwebs away. The last couple of laps really hurt, but that's racing."
In the bronze rideoff, Oshiro and Takahashi took the first match but were relegated in the second, giving South Africa's Kilpatrick and Thomson the opportunity to steal the bronze in a thrilling finale.
Results - Final
Gold KAPPES Anthony B/VI, STOREY Barney PLT GBR
Silver DEMERY Ben B/VI, HOPKINS Shaun PLT AUS
Bronze KILPATRICK Gavin B/VI, THOMSON Michael PLT RSA
Women's Ind. Pursuit (LC 3-4/CP 3)
Buchan Takes Gold
Two new world records were set in the qualifying round of this mixed disability classification event, with both the CP3 and LC3 records tumbling. Through to the gold final go Barbara Buchan of the USA against Natalie Simanowski of Germany, while the bronze medal ride-off will be between Paula Tesoriero of New Zealand and Jayme Paris of Australia. Buchan went on to seal the deal and win gold ahead of Simanowski and Tesoriero.
Results - Final (times with %factor time listed second where applicable)
1 BUCHAN Barbara CP3 USA 4:33.459 / 4:15.848
2 SIMANOWSKI Natalie LC3 GER 4:19.396
3 TESORIERO Paula LC3 NZL 4:26.080
4 PARIS Jayme CP3 AUS 4:44.938 / 4:26.587
Results - Qualifying (times with %factor time listed second where applicable)
1 BUCHAN Barbara CP3 USA 4:31.334/4:13.860 (WR)
2 SIMANOWSKI Natalie LC3 GER 4:16.176 (WR)
3 TESORIERO Paula LC3 NZL 4:22.862
4 PARIS Jayme CP3 AUS 4:42.884/4:24.666
5 TANG Qi LC3 CHN 4:27.115
6 NIU Zhifeng LC3 CHN 4:32.381
7 ARMSTRONG Jane LC3 AUS 4:35.768
8 JONES Allison LC3 USA 4:36.306
9 van STADEN Susan LC3 RSA 4:44.792
10 ACINAS Raquel LC3 ESP 4:51.156
Women's Ind. Pursuit (LC 1-2/CP 4)
Gold and New World Record for Sarah Storey
Above: Sara Storey powers to glory in the Women's Individual Pursuit LC1-2 CP4 final (image: Julien Behal/PA Wire)
Sara Storey starts her pursuit campaign by clocking a new LC1 world record time of 3:40.492 to take her into the gold medal final against CP4 rider Jennifer Schuble of the USA, who also beat the world record for her category with a time of 4:01.243. However, Schuble is listed as first due to the percentage factoring system in this mixed classification event. The bronze medal final will be contested by Jingping Dong and Yaping Ye of China.
The final came and Storey must have wondered what she needed to do to capture gold after beating the world record and still placing 2nd in qualiying. It would need the ride of her life to win gold and Sarah produced - a totally stunning 3:36.637 was enough by a mere 2 tenths of a second to deny Schuble the gold. Awesome.
Speaking to the BBC after her historic win, Sarah said "I can't quite believe I've gone 3:36. That would have got me a top eight place at the Olympics. The fact that a Paralympian can finish in that sort of time and that sort of position is amazing. I can't remember much about the race except my legs are hurting."
Results - Final (times with %factor time listed second where applicable)
1 STOREY Sarah LC1 GBR 3:36.637 (WR)
2 SCHUBLE Jennifer CP4 USA 4:02.758 / 3:36.867
3 DONG Jingping LC2 CHN 4:14.103 / 3:49.754
4 YE Yaping LC2 CHN 4:19.711 / 3:54.825
Results - Qualifying (times with %factor time listed second where applicable)
1 SCHUBLE Jennifer CP4 USA WR 4:01.243/3:35.514
2 STOREY Sarah LC1 GBR WR 3:40.492
3 DONG Jingping LC2 CHN 4:13.412/3:49.130
4 YE Yaping LC2 CHN 4:16.043/ 3:51.508
5 NEIMANAS Greta LC1 USA 3:57.966
6 ZHOU Jufang LC1 CHN 4:00.504
7 VINCI Silvana CP4 ITA 4:31.057/4:02.148
8 SOUTHORN Fiona LC1 NZL 4:06.965
9 BURNS Roxy CP4 RSA 4:36.900/4:07.368
10 RUETZ Anita CP4 AUT 4:56.779/4:25.127
Men's Team Sprint (LC1-4 CP3/4)
Gold for GB in Team Sprint makes it a Golden Dozen for GB on the Track
Above: Gold medallists collectively and individually, Sprint team of Cundy, Bristow and Kenny
Team Sprint victory for GB! The trio of Cundy, Kenny and Bristow sailed through qualifying, posting the fastest time by 2 seconds ahead of Zhang, Zhang and Zheng of China. Could anyone come near them in the final? The answer was an emphatic no. Kenny started strong, taking a tenth out of the Chinese in the first lap. Over to Cundy who, to put it mildy, consolidated GB's position by taking nearly a full second out of Lu Zhang, posting a stunning 13.9 lap. Cundy peeled off and catapulted Bristow in the final lap with a healthy advantage. However, taking no chances, Mark hammered out a 15.1 second lap to take a further tenth out of the Chinese team. Another stunning sub 50 second ride which gave them the final gold of the track cycling, making 12 golds and 1 silver, and one completely unassailable GB team.
Results - Final
Gold 1 GBR - Great Britain 49.323
BRISTOW Mark LC1
CUNDY Jody LC2
KENNY Darren CP3
Silver CHN - China 50.480
ZHANG Kuidong LC1
ZHANG Lu LC3
ZHENG Yuanchao LC2
Bronze
CZE - Czech Republic 52.379
BOUSKA Jiri CP4
JEZEK Jiri LC2
KVASNICKA Tomas CP3
Silver AUS - Australia 54.239
BALL Greg LC4
GALLAGHER Michael LC1
SCOTT Christopher CP4
Results - Qualifying
1 GBR - Great Britain 49.561
2 CHN - China 51.233
3 CZE - Czech Republic 52.889
4 AUS - Australia 54.585
5 GER - Germany 54.876
6 CAN - Canada 56.183
7 ESP - Spain 58.584
Behind the Scenes on Day Four
More great off-track shots from Neil Smith.
Above: An elated Barney thanks the GB supporters in person
Above: Gold Medallists Jody Cundy (left) Ellen Hunter (right) mingle with the crowd.
Above: Darren Kenny trackside signing autographs
Above: Darren Kenny chats with Mr Cundy Snr
Above: Kappes and Storey pay person tribute to the GB supporters
Above: GB supporters gave the riders that extra few km/h