Athletes get Team GB off to a golden start

CYCLIST SARAH Storey and swimmer Jonathan Fox ensured Great Britain’s Paralympic Games got off to a golden start.

Former swimmer Storey won the eighth Paralympic gold of her career, dominating the C5 three-kilometre individual pursuit final to such an extent she caught opponent Anna Harkowska little more than halfway through the race.

Fox, meanwhile, became Britain’s first gold medallist in the pool when he won the S7 100m backstroke.

The 21-year-old had lowered his own world record in the heats earlier in the day, dipping under 1min 10secs for the first time.

There was also a silver for Welsh cyclist Mark Colbourne in the C1-2-3 1km time trial.

Essex powerlifter Zoe Newson marked her Paralympic debut with an under-40kg bronze, while Ben Quilter took an under60kg judo bronze.

Storey, though, was the star of a day that began with her setting a new world record in the heats.

The 34-year-old added a third cycling gold to her five as a swimmer.

She has won 19 medals in total across six games and is scheduled to ride in three more events at London 2012.

A clean sweep would equal wh e e l c h a i r racer ess Tanni Grey-Thompson’s see her BaronBritish women’s record of 11 Paralympic golds.

“I always said if I could get off to a really great start that would set me up for the rest of the week, and hopefully that’s the case,” Storey said.

Reflecting on his gold, Fox said: “In the final it’s all about getting that gold medal around your neck, which I have done, so I am really happy.”

Quilter bounced back from a quarterf inal defeat to reigning champion Mouloud Noura, winning two repechage bouts before defeating Japan’sTakaaki Hirai in the bronze medal encounter.

“To be here and to win bronze is fantastic,” he said.

Newson paid tribute to the crowd that roared her to medal success at the Excel.

“It was outstanding out there,” she said. “The crowd just pump you up. It was great to have a home crowd and have them behind you. It helps you get along and get stronger.”

Newson had looked unlikely to make the podium after her second lift was chalked off, although a superb final effort of 88kg was enough to secure third.

“Before the third lift, I was so nervous,” she added. “I didn’t get the second one, but then it was all right.”

Colbourne dedicated his hard-earned silver medal to his father, Cecil, who died from stomach cancer in February.

Colbourne, who broke his back in a paragliding accident three years ago, said: “My life completely changed overnight. I genuinely felt that my life was over.

“However, if you take adversity and you face it head on in a positive way, then you never know what doors can open for you and you never know what you can achieve. Today has shown that.”

There were additional silvers in the swimming pool for Nyree Kindred in the S6 100m backstroke and Paralympic debutant Hannah Russell in the S12 400m freestyle.

Elsewhere, dressage riders Lee Pearson and Natasha Baker both made their mark at Greenwich Park, topping their respective grades in the early stages of the team competition.

There was disappointment for Di Coates, who finished ninth with 389 points in the R2-10m air rifle competition qualifying.

The 58-year-old missed out on qualification by two points.

Britain’s men and women goalball teams, meanwhile, both suffered comprehensive defeats, the men losing 11-1 to Lithuania and women beaten 7-1 by China.

The men’s wheelchair basketball team were edged out 77-72 by Germany, while the Netherlands beat the women’s team 62-35.

AFTER THE best Olympics I can remember, it’s now the turn of the Paralympics to take the spotlight. Nobody is expecting the Games to have the same profile as the Olympics but the signs are that this will be the most successful one ever.

Some people believe the Paralympics should be merged into the Olympics and they should all compete at the same time but that’s not what I’d like to see.

First of all, it would be a logistical nightmare. I think there were over 10,000 athletes competing in the Olympics and the Paralympic figure is about 4,000. They use the same venues in a lot of cases and I just couldn’t see a way that they could all be accommodated for their events or in the Olympic Village.

I also think that, with the best will in the world, the profile of the Paralympic events would inevitably be lost if they were integrated.

The best scenario is that the Paralympics get their own platform and the games grow every four years. That certainly seems to be the case.

I read an interview with Tanni Grey-Thompson where she was looking back on her games and speaking about the progress that has been made over the last decade or so.

She said her main memory of Atlanta in 1996 was of the Olympic village being packed away as they were competing. It was almost as if they were an afterthought or an inconvenience. And apparently even though the organisation improved WHEN JUDY Murray took on a big role with women’s tennis a few months ago, I said that I thought she would have a good effect on the young players coming through. in Sydney and Athens, they still didn’t get very good crowds. That all changed in Beijing, where there were full houses.

By all accounts that’s set to continue in London. Though there will be nothing like the same wall-to-wall TV coverage we had a few weeks ago, I’m sure there will be plenty of times I’ll check out the competition.

I know all about the dedication of Paralympians because I often see the GB Wheelchair team at training.

They’ve got world and Olympic

Going by Laura Robson’s performance with Andy Murray at the Olympics, and her defeat of Kim Clijsters in the US Open, that definitely looks like being the case. medals. One of the team is a primary school teacher, but apart from that they’re pretty much full-time curlers.

Just like our curling, wheelchair curling is a big deal in Canada. It was massive news over there when their Olympic champion, JimArmstrong, was banned for a doping offence. That’s not the sort of headlines we want to see over the next couple of weeks.

I’m sure there will be new British sporting heroes emerging and the feelgood factor will keep going.

Who knows, in a couple of years from now Andy might not be the only Brit still standing going into the second week of major championships.

Tanni Grey-Thompson in Athens in 2004.

Sarah Storey.