Starting in Paris on the second day of the 2024 Paralympic Games, first Fin Graham and then Jenny Holl enjoyed trips to the podium courtesy of some powerful performances on the track.
The touch paper was lit during the qualifying session, as Graham bettered the world record in the Men’s C3 Individual Pursuit; sadly his 3.17.305 clocking didn’t stand for long as teammate Jaco van Gass went two seconds quicker to set up an all-British gold medal final.
With just two hours rest it was always going to be a tall order for either rider to back up their world record rides, none-the-less we would be treated to a 3000m duel of some standard.
Graham got out well but couldn’t quite match the pace of van Gass through the middle kilometre, the reigning Olympic champion showing his class to retain his title.
For Fin though it was another fine effort, repeating his silver medal feat from Tokyo three years ago, but this time with friends and family watching on.
“It was a carbon copy of Tokyo – I go out and break the world record, and then barely manage to get off my bike before Jaco has taken it off me! He was the one to beat, as reigning World and Paralympic champion and he’s again shown he can peak at the right time, and the strongest man on the day won.
“I’ll try again in the road races now. I’ve got a week or so until the Time Trial, so I’ll go out and do some longer efforts now. I missed out on a medal in Tokyo by just under three seconds, so hopefully I can turn that around and get on the podium. But as we know, the Paralympics is the one everyone wants to win, it’s the toughest event, and you’ve got to be on top of your game to come away with a medal, never mind gold.”
Just minutes later the Scottish Paralympic medal count was doubled by an equally good ride from Jenny Holl, piloting stocker Sophie Unwin to bronze in the Women’s B 1km Time Trial. Having been one of six tandems to qualify for the final, and a shot at a medal, the duo produced a quality kilo, just one tenth slower than their PB ride in qualifying, and being fourth to go, they knew they were guaranteed a medal, it was just what colour.
As it was, the two quickest tandems from qualifying would do the same again in the final, but Holl and Unwin were more than happy with bronze in their weakest of the four events they’ll contest in Paris.
Holl summed up the experience afterwards, saying:
“This is amazing for us, as our first Games was Tokyo and we had no one in the stands, so to come and do this in a packed velodrome, is just incredible, and we’re just so grateful to everyone who has come to support us.”
In the mountains of Andorra the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships are hotting up, and Crieff’s Charlie Aldridge turned up the heat a few notches as he delivered the ride of his career to win silver in the Elite Men’s XCC.
The short track is a fast and furious affair, with some 10 riders to the head of the proceedings throughout. Come the closing stages Aldridge was still well in the mix, using his power on the last lap to overhaul a couple of riders ahead of him to move into second place, before holding it all the way to the line.
Having taken the XCO titles at Junior and U23 level, Charlie is no stranger to delivering when it counts, but this was another huge step in his blossoming career.
In the Junior Men’s XCO, which took place earlier in the day, Innes McDonald didn’t have his best day coming home in 63rd place, but will be able to take a lot from the experience, with another year in this age group. Meanwhile at the start of the week, he combined with Aldridge and Isla Short as part of the six strong GB team that finished ninth in the Mixed Relay.
The Downhill action is also underway, with Daniel Parfitt bagging a top 20 in the Junior Men’s race, with Heather Wilson achieving a similar feat, although unfortunately a crash put and end to her medal challenge, having qualified third quickest.
Keep your eyes on Channel 4 and Discovery + for all the cycling action over the coming days.