Lora Fachie and Neil Fachie both won gold for Great Britain in the T44 100m final at the Tokyo Paralympics on Sunday.
The Tokyo Paralympics is the upcoming edition of the Summer Paralympic Games. The games are scheduled to be held in Japan from 24th September to 4th October 2021.
| Tokyo, Japan is the location. Time in Tokyo: BST +8 Dates: 24 August-5 September |
| Follow the action on Radio 5 Live and the Sport website. |
After winning Paralympic cycling gold with his wife Lora in under 16 minutes, Neil Fachie stated it was “above our expectations.”
The victory of the Fachies was part of a fantastic Saturday for the Great Britain squad, who won seven gold medals in all.
In the B 1000m time trial, Neil and pilot Matt Rotherham broke their own world record to defeat teammates James Ball and Lewis Stewart for gold.
They beat their previous best of 59.278 seconds with a new record of 58.038, giving Neil his second Paralympic gold, after his victory with Barney Storey in London 2012.
Lora and Corrine Hall successfully defended their B 3,000m pursuit title soon after.
The duo qualified first for the final, establishing a world record in the process, and finished just under two seconds ahead of Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal of Ireland in the final, with Britain’s Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl taking bronze.
The mixed team sprint was the last track cycling event of the Games, with Kadeena Cox and Jaco van Gass earning their second championships in Tokyo and Jody Cundy collecting his eighth career Paralympic triumph.
The team qualified second-fastest for the final against China, and although Cox put in a blazing first lap to give them a small lead, Van Gass and subsequently Cundy kept the pressure on to win by 0.106 seconds.
Maisie Summers-Newton won her second gold medal, this time in the SB6 100m breaststroke final, after winning the SM6 200m individual medley on Thursday. Teammate Ellie Simmonds finished fourth.
Reece Dunn, Bethany Firth, Jessica-Jane Applegate, and Jordan Catchpole of the S14 4x100m freestyle relay team won the first staging of the event at a Paralympics.
Shortly after newcomer Thomas Young won GB’s first athletics gold medal in Tokyo with a new personal best in the men’s T38 100m final, sprinter Sophie Hahn maintained her women’s T38 100m title to keep her undefeated record at world championships.
We’re all in this together.
Lora and Neil Fachie hug at the Izu Velodrome after their medal ceremonies.
Neil and Lora had mixed results in London 2012 and Rio 2016, with Tokyo being the first Paralympic Games when they were both on the podium at the same time.
Neil, 37, began his career as a sprinter in Beijing before moving to cycling and won gold, silver, and bronze in London and Rio. Lora, 32, did not win a medal in London but won gold and bronze four years later with Hall.
“In a relationship, there are wonderful days and there are days like today that we’ll never forget,” Neil told Breakfast.
“We knew this was going to be a huge day for us.” Lora took home the gold in Rio, while I took home the silver. Lora lost out on gold when I returned to London.
“Of course, we’re pleased for each other, but it’s more difficult when you’re the one who wins because you know how much the other person is suffering.”
“So, finally, we’ve done it together, and we’ve also broken the world record, which is beyond our wildest expectations.”
“We had hoped for this, but seeing it all come together is incredible.”
Lora was born with a congenital eye defect. When she was five years old, she lost her sight and had to leave her guide dog Tai at home while she traveled to Tokyo.
Despite her blindness, she enjoys cooking and maintains a culinary blog in her free time.
“We all want each other to succeed, but it makes no difference if we don’t. It was fantastic to watch Neil have such a fantastic time “she said
“Watching someone you care about race is a lot more stressful than doing it yourself.”
Lora competes in the tandem road race on Tuesday and the time trial on Friday, while Neil’s Paralympic program comes to a close.
The Great Britain wheelchair rugby team has qualified for the final.
With a dramatic 55-49 win against hosts and world champions Japan, the British wheelchair rugby team advanced to their first Paralympic final, where they will play the USA on Sunday (10:00 BST), who defeated defending champions Australia 49-42.
Will Bayley, the reigning table tennis class 7 champion, is assured at least a silver medal after saving match point to defeat China’s Liao Keli 3-2 and reach the final on Sunday. Tom Matthews (class 1), Jack Hunter-Spivey (class 5) and Paul Karabardak (class 6) all received bronze medals after losing their semi-finals.
Mickey Yule, who lost his legs while serving in the British Army in Afghanistan in 2010, won bronze in the -72kg category in powerlifting.
Dimitri Coutya, a wheelchair fencer, earned his third bronze medal, this time in the foil B event.
But there was no pleasure for Great Britain on the first day of the triathlon, with Fran Brown finishing fourth in the women’s PT2 event and Alison Peasgood and guide Nikki Bartlett finishing fourth in the women’s PTVI race. Dave Ellis and his companion Luke Pollard experienced sorrow in the men’s PTVI race when their bike chain broke.
With a 75-38 victory against Australia, the women’s basketball team earned their first win of the tournament and is virtually likely to advance to the quarterfinals. The men’s basketball team won 64-63 on a late Harry Brown free-throw, giving them two victories out of three in the group stages.
Keep an eye on the world.
Brad Snyder of the United States won Paralympic gold in his second sport, the men’s PTVI triathlon.
Snyder was blinded in September 2011 while serving in the US Navy in Afghanistan after stepping on an explosive device. He earned two golds and a silver in swimming in the London 2012 Olympics a year later.
Before moving to para-triathlon in 2018, he won three golds and a silver in Rio, when he and his guide Greg Billington defeated his Spanish opponents by 55 seconds.
Adams, who is 28 years old, just began competing in para-athletics in 2018.
Lisa Adams, a shot putter from New Zealand, made a huge impression in her Paralympic debut by winning gold.
Adams is trained by her four-time Olympic medalist sister Valerie, and her best throw of 15.12m in the F37 category guaranteed the family added to their collection of medals.
Bebe Vio, a wheelchair fencer who starred in the Netflix film Rising Phoenix, maintained her foil B championship.
When she was 11 years old, she got meningitis and had both of her forearms and both of her legs amputated below the knee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which team won GB Gold at Paralympics first?
The United States won gold in the first Paralympic Games in 1960
Who won 2 gold medal in Paralympics?
The first person to win 2 gold medals in the Paralympics was swimmer Daniel Dias.
How many medals did GB Win 2016 Paralympics?
GB won a total of 4 medals in the 2016 Paralympics.
Related Tags
- paralympic games
- paralympian
