Thornhill and Scott celebrate world record
World records and rainbow jerseys alike came the way of Sophie Thornhill and Helen Scott after a stunning third day for the British team in Rio. The pair capped a memorable penultimate UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships evening as the Great Britain Cycling Team picked up three gold medals and six in all, smashing into double figures.
Neil Fachie, enjoying his 11th world title, joined them atop the podium with Matt Rotherham – unmatched in their efforts in the men’s B 1km time trial.
And there were also top honours for Crystal Lane-Wright – entering the weekend in scintillating style with a gold of her own in an individual pursuit victory that came by nearly five seconds.
But that wasn’t all with two more silver medals secured for the British team, while one bronze took the tally to 15 ahead of Sunday's finale.
Thornhill and Scott storm to world record
Nearly four years had passed since Thornhill set the women’s B 1km time trial world record with Rachel James – now the British star has the honour of beating both hers and the world’s best.
With Scott alongside her this time the pair set out with only gold on their minds, hitting the first 250m checkpoint with just 20.222 seconds on the clock.
From there they went from strength to strength, reaching 750m in less than 50 seconds before bringing the curtain down on their world-record ride in a time of 1:05.079.
At speeds in excess of 55km/h, more than two seconds separated the Brits from Jessica Gallagher and Madison Jenssen in second while bronze went to Griet Hoet and Anneleen Monsieur.
For Thornhill this was just another step in her esteemed career on the Rio track where she won Paralympic gold, backing up the World Championship honours she picked up in 2017, 2015 and 2014.
Fachie adds another rainbow jersey to overflowing collection
Fachie must be hoping there’s enough room in his wardrobe after picking up an 11th world champion’s rainbow jersey with a stunning performance in Brazil.
Piloted by Matt Rotherham, nobody was able to match their display – stopping the clock in 59.686s as the only pair to complete the 1km TT in less than a minute.
But they had some familiar faces alongside them on the podium, James Ball and Peter Mitchell showing consistency in abundance to leave with the silver medal.
Indeed the British duo were close to following up their compatriots’ efforts, finishing in a time of 1:00.535 to hold off bronze medallists Tristan Bangma and Patrick Bos of the Netherlands.
Stephen Bate and Adam Duggleby also competed for the British team across 1km, finishing in tenth place after a strong finish to their run.
Lane-Wright opens up day three in style
Little did we know just how much drama and excitement would unfold when Lane-Wright opened up with Great Britain’s first gold medal of day three.
Fastest in the qualifiers, the expectation was on her shoulders but she dealt with it in supreme style, winning the C5 individual pursuit by a margin of five seconds.
It was a performance deserving of that honour too, proudly donning the rainbow jersey and taking her place alongside and better than the world’s best.
She had a chance to add to the collection later in the day too, though the scratch race podium proved to be just a step too far as she finished fifth behind champion Caroline Groot.
Gildea on a silver streak while van Gass hits the podium
While gold was the order of the day in Rio, the medals were far from done there with Jon Gildea joining the British team on the podium with a silver medal in the C5 individual pursuit.
Registering the second fastest time in qualifying, Gildea had already shown himself to be up there as he guaranteed himself a medal even before taking to the track for a second time.
And alongside Yehor Dementyev there was an enthralling contest, the two side-by-side on the clock almost throughout, separated by less than a second heading into the closing 1000m.
But the Ukrainian did just enough to hang on for gold, though the Brit was far from put out by having a silver medal to his name.
Day three also produced a bronze medal for debutant Jaco van Gass in what was a thrilling battle for the last podium spot, toing and froing with Jacob Waters of the United States before taking the line by the narrowest of margins.
For more information about British performances at 2018 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Brazil, visit British Cycling's website.
Photo credit: SW Pix
