ParalympicsGB team in Rio smashes London 2012 gold medal tally
With just four days remaining of Rio 2016, ParalympicsGB show no sign of slowing down any time soon as they smashed through the gold medal total of both the London and Beijing Games with nine Paralympic titles added to the tally.
Dame Sarah Storey kicked off another sparkling day for the Brits as she clinched her 13th Paralympic gold medal in the women’s C5 time trial, one of three time-trial titles for Britain as Karen Darke and Steve Bate and his guide Adam Duggleby won gold in the H1-3 and B categories respectively.
History was made on the athletics track too, as Kadeena Cox became the first British Paralympian to win gold medals in two different sports since the 1984 Games as she won the 400m T38 in a new world record time, just days after sealing cycling gold in the C4-5 500m time trial on Saturday.
Hannah Cockcroft also bagged her second gold of the Games – and set a new world record along the way – in the 400m T34, while Sophie Wells won her first individual Paralympic gold in the equestrian Grade IV Test.
And it was another successful night in the pool for Britain’s swimmers as Hannah Russell (S12 100m backstroke S12), Aaron Moores (100m breaststroke S14) and Michael Jones (400m freestyle S7) all won their maiden Paralympic titles.
Preview- day eight
On Thursday, further history could be made for ParalympicsGB athletes prepare to race in the first ever Paralymic Games canoe finals, with 12-time swimming medallist Jeanette Chippington leading the charge up first.
Swimmer Ellie Simmonds will be looking to land her third medal in Rio in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB6 alongside Charlotte Henshaw, with Claire Cashmore the only other British athlete in action in the pool in the 100m butterfly S9.
Reigning one-person keelboat champion Helena Lucas will enter day eight of the Games in the lead out on the water, while five-time world champions Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell continue in second in the two-person boat with the three-person crew in fifth.
Cyclist Karen Darke will go for her second Paralympic title in as many days in the women’s road race H1-2-3-4, while Natasha Baker, Sophie Christiansen and Anne Dunham will go for gold at the Equestrian Centre.
It looks set to be a busy night on the track too as six-time Paralympic gold medallist David Weir goes in pursuit of his first medal of the Rio Games in the T54 800m final.
Joining him at the Olympic Stadium will be Laura Sugar and Richard Whitehead – going for his second gold in Rio – as they race in the 200m T44 and 100m T42 finals respectively.
And just a day after discovering they will go head to head in the wheelchair tennis singles final on Friday in an all-British clash, Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid are in doubles final action against France as they await to learn the colours of the first of their guaranteed two Paralympic medals.
Over at the Sambodromo, archer Tania Nadarajah looks to progress from the women’s individual recurve open 1/16 elimination round where she plays Mongolia’s Oyun-Erdene Buyanjargal.
Gold medallist Will Bayley continues his search for another medal as he joins forces with Aaron McKibbin and Ross Wilson as they take on Ukraine in the semi-finals of the men’s 6-8 table tennis team event.
ParalympicsGB mixed wheelchair rugby team play their second Group A game against Canada while Patrick Wilson, David Smith and Stephen McGuire all play their boccia quarter-final matches.
And finally, it’s a busy day of wheelchair basketball action as both men’s and women’s team play their semi-finals matches with a place in the gold medal match up for grabs for both. The women play the USA while the men take on Spain.
