As GB gold rush begins
remarkable because she started her career in the pool before switching to the track.
The 34-year-old, from Manchester, now has eight Paralympic titles and 19 medals in total since making her debut in the Barcelona games in 1992.
Storey, who was born with a partly formed left h a n d , s a i d : “i a lway s thought that if i could get off to a great start it would set up the week and hopefully that’s the case. To get the gold is a dream come true.”
i’m just so proud of him. it’s such an amazing achievement
Fox, 21, who was born in Cornwall and trains in Manchester and who has cerebral palsy, led from the start.
He said: “it was really amazing. When you touch the wall the crowd just roars.”
Britain’s first medal of the games was won by Mark Colbourne, who completed a dramatic turnaround after fighting back from a horrific paraglider accident just three years ago.
The 42-year-old broke his back in the incident in May 2009 and required five months of physiotherapy just to get back on his feet. He won silver in the Velodrome in the 1 km Time Trial, less than an hour before Storey’s gold.
Colbourne’s mother, Margaret, 70 – who watched alongside his 18-year-old daughter Jessica – fought back tears as she spoke of her son’s achievement.
She said: “i can’t tell you how i feel, i’m just so very proud of him. i only wish his dad could have been here with him.”
She added: “it’s been incredible – we’ve just had such great support from everyone.”
Also in the pool, nyree Kindred took silver in the 100m backstroke.
Partially-sighted Ben Quilter overcame the odds to win a bronze medal in the -60kg Judo.
The 30-year-old revealed after the event that he had torn his cruciate ligaments just seven weeks before the games.
Swimmer Hannah Russell, 16, who has achondr-oplasia, a form of dwarfism, narrowly lost out in a superb duel with oxana Savchenko as she won silver in the 400m freestyle, while Zoe newson, right, won bronze in the -40kg Women’s Powerlifting.
Andrew Mullen, 15, from newton Mearns, reached the final of the men’s 50m freestyle, finishing eighth in qualifying.
Viewing figures released by Channel 4 for the opening ceremony on Wednesday showed a peak audience of 11.2 million – the broadcaster’s biggest in a decade and four times that of the opening in Beijing four years ago.