Australia leads charge in 2012 Paralympic cycling

China and GB also win gold

AP Photo/Alastair Grant

Published: August 31, 2012 at 11:45 am

Australia has so far managed to exact some revenge over Team GB on the velodrome as the 2012 Paralympic Games get going in London. Australia has already won three gold medals, with China taking two and Great Britain one.

The Aussies opened their account on Thursday with amputee Susan Powell winning the C4 3000m individual pursuit, clocking 4:05.2 to beat American Megan Fisher (4:07.147) in the final. They added another gold when blind cyclist Keiran Modra, piloted by Scott McPhee, won the men's B 4000m individual pursuit in 4:17.756, beating compatriot Bryce Lindores in the final. A third gold went to the Australian team on Friday morning when Felicity Johnson, piloted by Stephanie Morton, won the women's B 1000m time trial in 1:08.919.

China scored two gold medals with Sini Zeng winning the C1-2-3 3000m individual pursuit in 4:20.820 over Australian Simone Kennedy (4:24.893). Her success was repeated by Zhang Yu Li, who took the men's C1-2-3 1000m time trial in a new world record (factored) time of 1:05.021. He beat Britain's Mark Lee Colbourne by over three seconds, with Germany's Tobias Graf taking bronze.

The hosts GB had some gold to celebrate on day 1, however, with Sarah Storey winning the women's C5 3000m individual pursuit. Storey broke her own world record in qualifying with an impressive 3:32.170 then caught her opponent Anna Harkowska (Poland) just after half distance in the final.

For full results, visit www.london2012.com/paralympics