Britain’s Sarah Storey took two golds in a haul that scooped three golds and two silvers on the final day of the Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Italy, taking the total GB medal tally from the competition to 18 and ranking first in the medal standings.
On Day one at despite a brilliant ride with new pilot Helen Scott, Aileen McGlynn had to hand her World Champion’s crown to Australia’s Felicity Johnson, piloted by Stephanie Morton, who beat the British pair by less than a tenth of a second. The new British pairing walked away with silver and a PB of 1.09.474, a shade of the current World Record. Lora Turnham, piloted by Fiona Duncan, came sixth after a solid ride and a PB for the new pairing.
The first gold medal of the day three came from Sarah Storey in the Women’s C5 500m TT. Storey produced a very strong ride of 37.733 for the 500 metres to defend her World Champion title from 2009. Storey’s biggest opponent Ju Fang Zhou of China, who was absent from the last world championships, came second.
The team also broke five world records, two British records and set numerous PBs. Lead Coach Chris Furber said: “Performances from this weekend are a massive boost for the team, gaining us vital qualification points towards places in London. The standard of the competition has really moved on since Beijing and being in a medal mix now means we are well placed for medal prospects in 2012.”
Great Britain claimed more than a quarter of the medals during the World Championships, once again proving its prowess on the track. "I think it’s been fantastic World Championships, said Gareth Sheppard, Performance Manager at British Cycling. There have been some really strong performances and we’re where we want to be in the build-up for London. So we’re very happy with our results."
At Beijing’s Paralympic Games, Great Britain confirmed its domination on the track by winning an impressive 13 medals, of which 12 were gold. In light of these results, expectations will be extremely high for the host nation at the next summer Games.
"We know that’s the expectation, to be able to perform. It’s a home Games. But again, that was, I think, a once- in-a-lifetime performance in Beijing. So it’s going to be really hard to come on equal or build on that result", he explained.
" We’re not really looking at medals. We’re looking at performances. And I think the guys have shown that they’re on track in terms of performances. We cannot control what the other nations will do in London. We can only control our own performances and that’s really what we’re going to focus on", he added.
More images from the event can be found on
Women’s Medal Tally
Gold
Women's C5 Individual Pursuit - Sarah Storey
Women's C5 500mTT - Sarah Storey
Silver
Women's Tandem Kilo - Aileen McGlynn, piloted by Helen Scott
Women's B 3km Pursuit - Lora Turnham, piloted by Fiona Duncan
LINKS
BRITISH CYCLING WEBSITE
Full reports from the World’s here WORLD PARA TRACK CYCLING REPORTS
Read Sarah’s candid blog here SARAH’S STORY
SARAH’S FACEBOOK
TEAM STOREY FACEBOOK
