Great Britain’s para-cyclists saved the best until last, with a dominant display on the final day of track competition seeing gold and silver for the squad in the Men’s B Sprint and an all GB bronze medal final in the Women’s B Pursuit with Aileen McGlynn and Helen Scott narrowly beating Lorna Turnham and Fiona Duncan. Rounding out the day, the trio of Darren Kenny, Rik Waddon and Jon-Allan Butterworth took silver in a nail-biting C1 to C5 Mixed Team Sprint contest with China, which saw the world record broken three times in one day.
The day’s performance saw Great Britain top the cycling medal table with 15 medals, two ahead of China, and if one moment exemplified this dominance more than others it was GB’s showing in the Men’s B Sprint, which opened proceedings and it was a world record frenzy for GB.
First Neil Fachie and Barney Storey – fresh from gold in the kilo on Saturday – set a time of 10.165, but their record lasted for less than five minutes as Craig Maclean and Anthony Kappes went one better in 10.050. The world record time meant that as fastest qualifiers the duo received a bye straight through to the semi-final stages.
For Fachie and Storey however, a quarter-final against Argentina awaited but the pair’s strength showed through and they ran out 2-0 winners in the best of three heats.
Safely through to the semi finals, both Great Britain tandems made short work of their opponents, Fachie and Storey beating their Spanish rivals Porto Lareo and Villaneuva 2-0, while Kappes and Maclean dispatched Japan’s Tatsuyuki Oshiro and Yasufumi Ito in equally businesslike fashion.
So an all GB final was set up and the sight of four riders in GB colours on two thunderous tandems must have been, for many, the visual metaphor for GB dominance in the velodrome. But from the outset it was clear that the two squads weren’t showboating – they meant business.
Match one was a cagey affair, the teammates-cum-rivals just above walking pace for much of the race before Kappes and Maclean dropped their feet on the accelerator and took the win. Kappes and Maclean’s superior speed was evident in the morning’s qualifier and struck with devastating efficacy in the second match, which, like the first, started with a tactical masterclass, Storey and Fachie leading their opponents all over the track. No amount of ‘lumps and bumps’ would unhinge Kappes and Maclean though, the pair getting height on Fachie and Storey before lunging down the track with an incredible acceleration, the two tandems making contact as Kappes and Maclean left Fachie and Storey standing. The B Time Trial gold medallists capitulated, Fachie raising his hand in frustration but eventually admitting that the other pair had the edge. Once Kappes and Maclean had crossed the line a brief flutter of uncertainty followed, with the commissaries taking a look at the sprint, but the result stood.
After the race Kappes commented: "You don't get many opportunities. Yesterday we blew it; it was not our fault, still we blew it nonetheless. Today was a chance to demonstrate what we can do and I can't complain."
Fachie, who was initially upset at the rough and tumble on track in the final match said: "We lost balance and that was the race done. Those guys were better than us today. They came out after yesterday's disappointment and showed what they could do."
It was a similar picture of in the Women’s B Pursuit bronze medal final, with four GB skinsuits lining up for a 3000m game of cat and mouse. Earlier in qualifying Turnham and Duncan topped the table for Great Britain with a time of 3:37.085 before being usurped by their compatriots Helen Scott and Aileen McGylnn in 3:36.930. It looked as if an all GB gold final was on the cards until both New Zealand and Ireland went quicker to set up a gold medal final for the nations.
McGlynn was thrilled with the result, in a discipline that didn't play to her natural strengths: "I'm probably happier with the bronze than with the silver in the kilometre, which was our main event," McGlynn said.
Scott added: "We've worked so hard, so I'm really glad we've come away with two medals."
New Zealand eventually ran out as Paralympic champions but not before a ding dong battle for bronze between the GB squads, which saw the lead change hands throughout the race. Eventually in the last 1000 metres Aileen McGlynn and Helen Scott managed to get their heads in front for good to claim bronze, adding to their silver medal in the Women’s B Time Trial earlier in the competition.
The Mixed C1 to C5 Team Sprint provided a thrilling finale to the London 2012 Paralympic Track Cycling, with Great Britain’s Darren Kenny, Rik Waddon and Jon-Allan Butterworth coming painfully close to retaining the Paralympic title for GB.
The excitement began in the morning’s qualifying session; Butterworth, Waddon and Kenny setting a world record time of 49.808, only for China to break the record again in 49.804, fractionally better than Great Britain and setting up a gold medal final between the two.
Come the final and GB knew they were up against it – the Chinese squad world champions and world record holders. Kenny led the team out and after one lap, GB were down by 0.3 seconds. A lap later the gap was out to 0.7, leaving Jon-Allan Butterworth with a mountain to climb in the final 250 metres. Butterworth dug deep and at the line, the two squads were separated by just 65 hundredths of a second, Butterworth almost closing the gulf with an all out sprint to the line.
It was Butterworth's third silver medal from three track events, with two to come on the road at Brands Hatch next week. He said: "I'm still chasing a gold. We couldn't do any more."
Waddon, who was in tears after the race added: "I've dreamed of that gold. We've done a staggering time in both rides, but we just got pipped by another nation. It's something you can't control."
Silver it was, but the performance and the racing was pure gold for the 6000 spectators who packed out the velodrome. Kenny, Waddon and Butterworth seemed deflated, but they’d swelled GB’s medal haul to a remarkable 15, with four days of competition at Brands Hatch still to come.
Results
Men's B Sprint
Gold Medal Final
Great Britain KAPPES Anthony MACLEAN Craig
beat
Great Britain FACHIE Neil STOREY Barney 2-0
Bronze Medal Final
Spain PORTO LAREO Jose Enrique VILLANUEVA TRINIDAD Jose Antonio
beat
Japan OSHIRO Tatsuyuki ITO Yasufumi 2-0
Semi Finals
Heat 1
Great Britain KAPPES Anthony MACLEAN Craig
beat
Japan OSHIRO Tatsuyuki ITO Yasufumi 2-0
Heat 2
Great Britain FACHIE Neil STOREY Barney
beat
Spain PORTO LAREO Jose Enrique VILLANUEVA TRINIDAD Jose Antonio 2-0
Quarter Finals
Heat 1
Great Britain KAPPES Anthony MACLEAN Craig (BYE)
Heat 2
Great Britain FACHIE Neil STOREY Barney
beat
Argentina NATTKEMPER Alberto Lujan ITHURRART Jonatan 2-0
Heat 3
Spain PORTO LAREO Jose Enrique VILLANUEVA TRINIDAD Jose Antonio
beat
Greece STEFANAKIS Christos TROULINOS Konstantinos 2-0
Heat 4
Japan OSHIRO Tatsuyuki ITO Yasufumi
beat
Netherlands OOST Rinne BOS Patrick 2-1
Qualification
1 Great Britain KAPPES Anthony MACLEAN Craig 10.050 Q WR
2 Great Britain FACHIE Neil STOREY Barney 10.165 Q
3 Spain PORTO LAREO Jose Enrique VILLANUEVA TRINIDAD Jose Antonio 10.458 Q
4 Netherlands OOST Rinne BOS Patrick 10.535 Q
5 Japan OSHIRO Tatsuyuki ITO Yasufumi 10.639 Q
6 Greece STEFANAKIS Christos TROULINOS Konstantinos 11.121 Q
7 Argentina NATTKEMPER Alberto Lujan ITHURRART Jonatan 11.744 Q
Women's Individual B Pursuit
Finals
Gold New Zealand GRAY Phillipa THOMPSON Laura
Silver Ireland WALSH Catherine MEEHAN Francine
Bronze Great Britain McGLYNN Aileen SCOTT Helen
4 Great Britain TURNHAM Lora DUNCAN Fiona
5 Ireland DUNLEVY Katie George FITZGERALD Sandra
6 Spain BENITEZ GUZMAN Josefa NORIEGA Maria
7 Canada WELDON Robbi BESSETTE Lyne
8 Germany HANDRUP Henrike HEINY Ellen
9 Australia JOHNSON Felicity MORTON Stephanie
10 Belarus FIADOTOVA Iryna DRAZDOVA Alena
11 Greece CHALKIADAKI Adamantia MILAKI Argyro
Qualification
1 New Zealand GRAY Phillipa THOMPSON Laura 3:31.530 Q WR
2 Ireland WALSH Catherine MEEHAN Francine 3:36.453 Q
3 Great Britain McGLYNN Aileen SCOTT Helen 3:36.930 Q
4 Great Britain TURNHAM Lora DUNCAN Fiona 3:37.085 Q
5 Ireland DUNLEVY Katie George FITZGERALD Sandra 3:42.445
6 Spain BENITEZ GUZMAN Josefa NORIEGA Maria 3:43.335
7 Canada WELDON Robbi BESSETTE Lyne 3:45.698
8 Germany HANDRUP Henrike HEINY Ellen 3:46.697
9 Australia JOHNSON Felicity MORTON Stephanie 3:51.103
10 Belarus FIADOTOVA Iryna DRAZDOVA Alena 4:01.417
11 Greece CHALKIADAKI Adamantia MILAKI Argyro 4:01.449
Mixed C1 to C5 Team Sprint
Finals
Gold China
Silver Great Britain
Bronze United States
4 Czech Republic
5 Australia
6 Germany
7 Spain
8 Ireland
9 Italy
10 New Zealand
Qualification
1 China 49.804 Q WR
2 Great Britain 49.808 Q
3 United States 53.174 Q
4 Czech Republic 53.751 Q
5 Australia 55.347
6 Germany 56.011
7 Spain 56.236
8 Ireland 56.401
9 Italy 57.095
10 New Zealand 57.449
