Tokyo Paralympics: Sarah Storey wins Paralympic gold

Sarah Storey set a new world record on her route to winning her 15th Paralympic medal – Britain’s first gold medal of Tokyo 2020.

After surpassing her personal world best in qualification, she beat teammate Crystal Lane-Wright in the final to retain her C5 3,000m individual pursuit title.

Mike Kenny’s British record of 16 golds is held by the 43-year-old.

In the B 4,000m pursuit, tandem duo Steve Bate and Adam Duggleby took silver.

The defending winners, Bate and Duggleby, were caught in the final by Tristan Bangma and Patrick Bos of the Netherlands, who set a world record in qualification.

Storey, on the other hand, dominated the first day of competition at the Izu Velodrome. She charged out of the blocks in the final, catching Lane-Wright after 1,750 metres.

Storey’s next race is the C5 road time trial on Tuesday, which she is the defending champion in, followed by the road race on Thursday, September 2.

Storey, who was born without a fully functional left hand, began her career as a swimmer in 1992 in Barcelona and went on to compete in four Paralympic Games, winning 15 medals, including five golds, before moving to cycly in 2005.

Since then, the mother of Louisa (8) and Charlie (3) has been virtually untouchable on the track and the road, with a qualifying time of three minutes 27.057 seconds, nearly four seconds quicker than the world record she established in Rio.

It’s Lane-second Wright’s silver medal in the event in as many games.