Australians and Britons rule cycling track

By Lan Tian (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-08 07:48

With over 3,000 spectators looking on, British and Australian cyclists won five medals and set four world records yesterday at the Laoshan Velodrome in Beijing.

Briton Simon Richardson, who suffered serious leg and back injuries when struck by a car seven years ago, took the first gold, smashing the world record for the men's LC3-4 category 1km time-trial with a time of 1 min 14.936 sec.

Tandem cyclist Aileen McGlynn, riding with able-bodied pilot Ellen Hunter, defended the title from Athens and set a new world record of 52.124 sec to win the B&VI category women's 1km time-trial.

The British hattrick was completed by Darren Kenny, who broke his own world record early on during the morning qualifying round of the CP3 category men's 3km event with a time of 3 min 36.875 sec.

"I'm overjoyed and relieved," said Kenny shortly afterwards. "I've not won a race as quickly as that before."

Kenny's promising career as an able-bodied rider ended after sustaining head and neck injuries during a 1988 junior competition tour.

He eventually returned to the sport, wining two gold medals at the Paralympics in Athens. He hopes to hit the top podium five times this year in Beijing.

Shining moments for Australia were brought to light yesterday when veteran Paralympians Chris Scott and Kieran Modra blitzed the cycling track, securing the country's first two gold medals of the Games.

Scott, a four-time Paralympian who suffers from cerebral palsy, finished barely one-tenth of a second ahead of Japan's Masashi Ishii for the win. His time of 3 min 40.144 sec in the CP4 category individual men's 3 km event was his epic eighth Paralympic gold. The cycling legend could not hold back his tears on the podium, knowing the race was his last individual pursuit of the Games.

"It's amazing," he said. "I told everyone that this was definitely my last individual pursuit, and they all said 'Well, you better make it a gold'."

Modra and his partner Tyson Lawrence also did Australia proud, taking gold and setting a world record in the B&VI category individual men's 4km pursuit with a time of 4 min 18.166 sec.

The pair was well ahead of Spain's Christian Venge and David Llaurado, who were lapped at the three-quarter mark.

Agencies contributed to the story

(China Daily 09/08/2008 page6)