Redemption - Cundy claims famous gold and bronze for Rolfe
Four years after his famous meltdown in London, Jody Cundy produced a stunning ride to win the men’s C4-C5 1000m time trial at the Paralympic Games in Rio.
Cundy, who made his Games debut in 1996, now has six Paralympic golds, three in swimming and three in cycling - but this one was surely the hardest to win.
In London he raged about wasting four years of his life after a faulty start denied him his dream of winning on home soil.
And he admitted, aged 37, that he probably wouldn’t have been in Rio had that result been different.
However, this time it was not four years wasted.
Cundy, wearing a prosthetic which had been painted to look like a pirate leg, with a treasure map that drew a line from London to Rio, even set a new Paralympic record, covering 1,000m in just 1.02.473.
Cundy, who will also race in the mixed team sprint at Rio 2016, said:
"It took a lot of energy to get to this point. This day has been on my mind for four years, ever since I kicked off in London and started throwing things about.
“I’ve tried to put the past to the back of head in the last few days but I was so nervous and that really hurt and I’m just glad that’s over. I’m properly pleased and I’m totally exhausted. To do it on the big stage was important but I would have liked to win in a personal best.”
Jon-Allan Butterworth, who won silver four years ago, set a Paralympic record earlier in the competition but settled for fourth as he saw the next three to go better his time.
Elsewhere, sports science student Louis Rolfe, just 19, beat 46-year old Colombian veteran Alvaro Galvis Becerra in the men’s C2 3,000m pursuit bronze medal race.
Nicknamed 'The Rocket', he was inspired to take up the sport after watching the London 2012 Paralympics on television.
