British athlete Sarah Storey won her 18th gold medal at the Paris Paralympics cycling time trial event, but described the course as “appalling”. Storey, who is taking part in her ninth Games, won the women’s road event, her fifth successive Paralympics title, on a C5 race course of just 14.1km. The Paralympian said she hoped organisers would reconsider the course length for women as it was the shortest time trial ever, a race of minimum 22km typically expected. Of the 13 British riders competing, Fran Brown won silver in the women’s C1-3 category and Matthew Robertson came fifth in the men’s C2.
One women’s road time trial event is being contested over the 28.3km distance compared to seven men’s events, while the other six women’s races, in addition to five men’s races, are just one lap of the 14.1km course. Storey said that athletes had appealed to Games organisers about the course length of the women’s race, but heard nothing back. Storey is solely competing in road events at Paris 2024 and will look to add a 19th gold in the road race on Friday. Among active Paralympians, Belarusian swimmer Ihar Boki has overtaken Storey in terms of most gold medals won in a career, having reached 21 after winning five times in Paris.
Despite her unhappiness about the course, Storey was pleased to extend her record as Britain’s most decorated Paralympian with her 29th medal and thrilled to win gold while her two children watched on. She said that she had a target of winning five gold medals in the time trial and was proud to achieve that goal. Brown shared her teammate’s perspective and said she enjoyed the course. Schrager finished fifth behind Brown in the women’s C1-3
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