Gold for Sarah Storey, Neil Fachie and Barney Storey, silver for Jon-Allan Butterworth and bronze for Jody Cundy took the Great Britain para-cyclists medal haul to 11 after another dominant display at the London Velodrome. However, like the previous day, day three wasn’t without its controversy. In the morning session, moments after Neil Fachie and Barney Storey took the day’s first gold and a new world record in the Men’s B Time Trial, the second GB tandem pairing of Anthony Kappes and Craig Maclean were struck by ill luck, given a DNF by the commissaires after two mechanical failures.
As Fachie and Storey took the stage, the time to beat was set by Spain - Porto Loreo and Villanueva Trinidad breaking the Paralympic record with a 1:02.707. The penultimate tandem to go, Storey and Fachie got off to a flyer and didn’t look back – ahead by a few hundredths after the first lap and building strongly throughout the four laps to stop the clock at a stunning 1:01.351 - a new world record!
All eyes were on the final pairing, GB’s Kappes and Maclean but it was then that controversy struck – a pulled rear wheel forced a restart and a nervous wait for the GB riders who were granted a restart. Minutes later and the gate released for a second time and it soon became clear that the mechanical problem and recurred. It was then that Performance Director Gareth Sheppard was seen in discussions with the commissaries and moments later it was announced that a second restart was not to be permitted.
A gentlemanly Kappes immediately stood up on the apron to applaud the gold medal of Fachie and Storey, swallowing the bitter pill that he and Maclean had just been dealt. So it was gold for Fachie and Storey, with Spain taking silver and the Netherlands bronze.
But there was little time to debate the controversy of Kappes’ and Maclean’s fate as the programme progressed with Jody Cundy back in action in the C4 pursuit, the Great Britain rider clocking 4:42.005 to earn a place in the bronze medal final against Colombian Diego German Duenas Gomez, while Novak of Romania broke Jiri Jezek’s world record in the final heat to join the Czech rider in the gold medal final.
The morning session concluded with yet more Great Britain action, Jon-Allan Butterworth back on track after winning silver the C4/5 kilo the previous day, this time competing in the C5 pursuit. Butterworth was up in heat four and broke the world record with a 4:35.026 to go top with just a few heats remaining. However, Australia’s Michael Gallagher went one better, posting an astonishing 4:30.012 to top the qualification table. Gallagher will face Butterworth in the gold final; the GB rider must recover and overcome a five second deficit to be in with a chance of gold, while Liu of China looks set for bronze after a strong ride to take third ahead of the Ukraine’s Yegor Dementyev.
The afternoon session got underway with the women’s 500m TT events, with Great Britain’s Sarah Storey winning a second gold medal to add to her London 2012 tally in the C4/5 event. Storey was the last rider to compete having seen Jennifer Schuble of the USA post a blistering 37.941 just a few heats before, followed by Ruan of China going into second with a new C4 record. Storey started steadily, a pursuiter by trade, and was slightly down over the first lap. However on top of her gear in the final lap, Storey turned on the style and went on to post a 36.997, the only rider to go under 37 seconds and soaked up the ovation of the sell-out crowd.
Moments later Jody Cundy took bronze in the C4 pursuit, playing to his kilo skill set and going for the catch, passing Diego German Duenas Gomez of Colombia after 1500 metres to take the medal and bury the memory of his kilometre disappointment the previous day. In the gold final, Carol Eduard Novak of Romania, who’d edged Cundy out of the gold medal ride in the final qualifying heat earlier in the day, beat his veteran Czech rival Jiri Jezek to claim gold, beating the new world record he set in qualifying.
Following an emotional medal ceremony for Sarah Storey, the final event got underway, the C5 Pursuit finals. The bronze medal ride off saw Liu comfortably beat Dementyev of the Ukraine before Jon Allan Butterworth took the stage to round out another exceptional day for Great Britain.
Butterworth qualified five seconds slower than Gallagher and chose to go for broke in the final, up on his Australian rival after the first kilometre. By the halfway mark Butterworth was over a second up but Gallagher was beginning to fight back and a kilometre later, the early efforts of Butterworth had taken their toll and the Australian was in the driving seat – reversing the one second deficit and beginning to distance Butterworth. The gold was Gallagher’s but the crowd was Butterworth’s, 6000 fans in the Pringle treated to a superb spectacle, ending day three on a massive high and bringing the GB para-cycling medal haul to 11 in three days of racing.
Results
Men's Ind.B 1km Time Trial Finals
1 Great Britain FACHIE Neil STOREY Barney 1:01.351 WR
2 Spain PORTO LAREO Jose Enrique VILLANUEVA TRINIDAD Jose Antonio 1:02.707
3 Netherlands OOST Rinne BOS Patrick 1:03.052
4 Australia MODRA Kieran McPHEE Scott 1:03.120
5 Australia LINDORES Bryce FINNING Sean 1:03.896
6 Japan OSHIRO Tatsuyuki ITO Yasufumi 1:04.266
7 United States of America RACHFAL Clark SWANSON David 1:05.280
8 Canada CHALIFOUR Daniel CLOUTIER Alexandre 1:05.433
9 Ireland BROWN James SHAW Damien 1:07.979
10 Greece STEFANAKIS Christos TROULINOS Konstantinos 1:09.163
11 Argentina NATTKEMPER Alberto Lujan ITHURRART Jonatan 1:11.181
12 Great Britain KAPPES Anthony MACLEAN Craig DNF
Men's Ind. C4 Pursuit Finals
Gold Romania NOVAK Carol-Eduard
Silver Czech Republic JEZEK Jiri
Bronze Great Britain CUNDY Jody
4 Colombia DUENAS GOMEZ Diego German
5 Spain ALCAIDE Roberto
6 Czech Republic BOUSKA Jiri
7 United States of America KAVANAGH Sam
8 Spain NEIRA Cesar
9 Japan ISHII Masashi
10 People's Republic of China JI Xiaofei
11 Austria GATTRINGER Manfred
12 Cuba LOPEZ ALFONSO Damian
13 Norway JAHR Morten
14 Belgium REYSERHOVE Koen
Men's Ind. C4 Pursuit Qualification
1 Romania NOVAK Carol-Eduard 4:40.315 Q WR
2 Czech Republic JEZEK Jiri 4:41.593 Q
3 Great Britain CUNDY Jody 4:42.005 Q
4 Colombia DUENAS GOMEZ Diego German 4:50.016 Q
5 Spain ALCAIDE Roberto 4:51.685
6 Czech Republic BOUSKA Jiri 4:55.631
7 United States of America KAVANAGH Sam 4:58.870
8 Spain NEIRA Cesar 5:00.974
9 Japan ISHII Masashi 5:02.100
10 People's Republic of China JI Xiaofei 5:07.453
11 Austria GATTRINGER Manfred 5:12.278
12 Cuba LOPEZ ALFONSO Damian 5:21.172
13 Norway JAHR Morten 5:21.436
14 Belgium REYSERHOVE Koen 5:27.624
Men's Ind. C5 Pursuit Finals
Gold Australia GALLAGHER Michael
Silver Great Britain BUTTERWORTH Jon-Allan
Bronze People's Republic of China LIU Xinyang
4 Ukraine DEMENTYEV Yegor
5 Italy TARLAO Andrea
6 Brazil SCHWINDT FILHO Joao Alberto
7 Austria EIBECK Wolfgang
8 Ireland MILLER Cathal
9 Germany SACHER Wolfgang
10 Dominican Republic MINIER CASTILLO Rodny
11 Brazil GOHR Soelito
12 New Zealand ROSS Chris
Men's Ind. C5 Pursuit Qualification
1 Australia GALLAGHER Michael 4:30.012 Q WR
2 Great Britain BUTTERWORTH Jon-Allan 4:35.026 Q
3 People's Republic of China LIU Xinyang 4:35.386 Q
4 Ukraine DEMENTYEV Yegor 4:43.881 Q
5 Italy TARLAO Andrea 4:44.120
6 Brazil SCHWINDT FILHO Joao Alberto 4:46.553
7 Austria EIBECK Wolfgang 4:46.999
8 Ireland MILLER Cathal 4:49.237
9 Germany SACHER Wolfgang 4:51.305
10 Dominican Republic MINIER CASTILLO Rodny 4:55.352
11 Brazil GOHR Soelito 4:58.061
12 New Zealand ROSS Chris 5:04.669
Women's Ind. C4-5 500m Time Trial Finals
Factored times
1 Great Britain STOREY Sarah 36.997
2 United States of America SCHUBLE Jennifer 37.941
3 People's Republic of China RUAN Jianping 38.194 WR
4 Poland HARKOWSKA Anna 39.599
5 United States of America NEIMANAS Greta 39.621
6 Australia POWELL Susan 39.702
7 New Zealand SOUTHORN Fiona 41.796
8 Australia GREEN Alexandra 42.095
9 United States of America FISHER Megan 42.178
10 Canada MOLNAR Marie-Claude 42.228
11 South Africa BURNS Roxanne 42.621
12 Germany BRACHTENDORF Kerstin 43.186
13 Switzerland SCHILLIG Annina 43.248
14 Switzerland TRETOLA Sara 44.122
