PARIS: Britain’s Archie Atkinson and Jaco van Gass came up short in Paralympic track cycling on Saturday as home favourite Dorian Foulon sent the Paris velodrome into raptures by taking gold.

World champion Atkinson, who only turned 20 in July, had to accept silver after slipping and falling dramatically off his bike in the C4 4000m individual pursuit.

Slovakia’s Jozef Metelka cruised to gold as the Briton, was still lying on the track.

Gass finished fourth in the men’s C1-3 1000m time trial after having clinched gold in the C3 3000m individual pursuit final on Friday.

The 38-year-old, who lost his lower left arm in 2009, clocked a world record time but dropped out of medal positions due to the Paralympic track cycling classification system.

In the final race of the day, Foulon had the French flags flying in the stands as he defended his C5 4000m individual pursuit title won at a supporter-less Tokyo Games in emphatic fashion by beating Ukraine’s Yehor Dementyev.

Foulon capped an impressive display for French riders in front of thousands of fans at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome. Gatien Le Rousseau claimed a bronze medal behind winner Metelka and Atkinson.

The well-supported Alexandre Leaute also took a bronze for France in the men’s C1-3 1000m time trial while Li Zhangyu collected gold for China.

Elsewhere, in the only women’s race of the day, Australian Amanda Reid defended her C1-3 500m title. She was competing 12 years on from taking part in the swimming at the London Paralympics.

Meanwhile, preparations for the triathlon events were dogged by recurrent concerns about the water of the River Seine.

The final training session for Sunday’s triathlons that had been due to take place on Saturday morning was cancelled “as a precaution” after heavy rain in the French capital which can stir up pollution.

The para-triathletes managed to fit in two training sessions in the Seine this week before the rain arrived.

China further stretched its lead at the top of the medals table in early action on Saturday as archer Chen Minyi retained her women’s individual W1 title by beating Sarka Pultar Musilova of the Czech Republic in the final at the Invalides.

The Chinese team’s 14th gold medal of the Games came through javelin thrower Yuping Zhao, who set a world record of 47.06 metres in the F12 category for athletes with a visual impairment.

The Chinese have topped the medal standings at every Paralympics since Athens in 2004 and show no signs of relinquishing that record after a strong start in Paris.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2024