Paris Paralympics 2024: Great Britain win four golds on day two (2024)

Published

30 August 2024

Tully Kearney claimed her second gold of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games while Jaco van Gass triumphed at the velodrome despite being hit by a car just days earlier, as Great Britain won four golds on an outstanding day two.

Just 24 hours after Kearney won swimming gold in the S5 200m freestyle, the 27-year-old returned to the pool to successfully defend her 100m freestyle title.

Paralympic and world champion Maisie Summers-Newton then retained her crown in the women’s SM6 200m individual medley at La Defense Arena.

Van Gass won the first British cycling gold on the track with victory over team-mate Fin Graham in the men’s 3,000m individual pursuit final, before Lizzi Jordan and pilot Dannielle Khan won women’s B 1,000m time trial gold - with Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl taking bronze.

Blaine Hunt started Friday's medal rush with silver in the men’s C4-5 1,000m time trial, while Matthew Robertson won men's C2 3,000m individual pursuit bronze.

Brock Whiston clinched GB's ninth medal of the day with silver on her Paralympic debut in the women's SB8 100m breaststroke.

That took ParalympicsGB's total haul to 15 medals - including six golds - after two days, second only to China (25 medals, 12 golds) in the table.

After winning gold on Thursday evening, Kearney forged ahead of Ukrainian silver medallist Iryna Poida on the last length to clinch her second triumph, with Italy’s Monica Boggioni taking bronze.

Summers-Newton then seized her moment in the spotlight, powering clear of the field to take gold as team-mate Grace Harvey placed fourth, while Bruce Dee finished in the same position in the men’s race.

Whiston then completed another successful day in the pool for GB, the 27-year-old finishing second to 16-year-old Spaniard Anastasiya Dmytriv Dmytriv in her final.

Twin sisters Scarlett and Eliza Humphrey finished seventh and eighth respectively in their first Paralympic final in the S11 400m.

Meanwhile, US Para-swimmer Christie Raleigh Crossley, who won silver in the women's S9 50m freestyle on Thursday evening, has claimed she is being targeted and bullied over her classification as a disabled athlete.

The 37-year-old, who set a world record in the heats, said she received negative comments on social media before the final, "including comments by a team member - a team-mate of mine".

She added: "The fact it is a prominent team member of Team USA who has come after me the hardest, it's just absolutely disgusting."

The gold rush for GB started when Van Gass successfully defended the Paralympic title he won at his Games debut in Tokyo in the men’s 3,000m individual pursuit.

The British Army veteran was the favourite going into the final having set a world record in the heats in 3:15.488 to finish ahead of team-mate Graham, who took silver in Tokyo.

Van Gass, 38, quickly opened up a sizeable lead in the final and revealed afterwards his victory had come just a week after he was hit by a car on a training ride in Paris.

"I was heartbroken, I literally thought this could be my Paralympics done," Van Gass said. "I took a day off to let my body settle, then I was back on the bike."

It was then Jordan’s turn to star, alongside pilot Khan, beating the time set by Australia’s Jessica Gallagher and pilot Caitlin Ward to take gold.

Silver medallist Hunt, sporting a magnificent handlebar moustache on his Paralympic debut, was one of three Britons in the men’s C4-5 1,000m time trial alongside Jody Cundy, who finished fourth at his eighth Paralympics, and Archie Atkinson in fifth.

Robertson claimed bronze after beating Japan’s Shota Kawamoto in the men’s C2 3,000m individual pursuit.

ParalympicsGB legend David Weir ensured he will have the chance to win his 11th medal at the Games on Saturday after safely qualifying for the men's T54 5,000m final.

There the 45-year-old, winner of six Paralympic titles, will come up against reigning champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland in an eagerly anticipated showdown.

Weir broke the T54 5,000m British record in February, finishing within 0.2 seconds of Hug as the Swiss set a world record.

"I don't set goals for medals anymore because I tried that in Tokyo and it just put too much pressure on me. I will just do my best tomorrow and hopefully it will be a medal. If it isn't, I'll move on to the next race," Weir said.

The first evening session of Para-athletics at Stade de France also saw Brazil's Petrucio Ferreira, the fastest Paralympian in the world, complete a T47 100m treble.

Ferreira, who smashed the world record in a time of 10.29 seconds in 2022, won a third consecutive Paralympic title after successes at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 in a time of 10.68secs.

"I'm happy, lightning has struck for the third time at the Paralympic Games and I'm coming home with another medal. It's an emotion that's hard to describe," said Ferreira, who lost his left arm below the elbow in an accident at the age of two.

Earlier, British debutant Zac Shaw qualified for Saturday’s men's T12 100m final in a photo finish and will seek to upgrade his 2024 world bronze, while Eden Rainbow-Cooper qualified for the women's T54 5,000m final at her first Paralympics.

ParalympicsGB history maker Rachel Choong, the first female to represent Great Britain in Para-badminton at a Paralympic Games, won her opening women's singles SH6 group match at La Chapelle Arena.

Choong, 30, came back from a game down to beat Peru's Rubi Milagros Fernandez Vargas in a decider to put herself on course for a place in the quarter-finals.

Elsewhere, British Para-rower Benjamin Pritchard, fifth in Tokyo, set a Paralympics Games best time in the PR1 men’s single sculls heats in 8:51.26 to reach the final. There was also a world best for Frankie Allen, Josh O’Brien, Giedre Rakauskaite, Ed Fuller and cox Erin Kennedy in the PR3 mixed coxed four, shaving more than three seconds off their own previous record.

GB's wheelchair rugby team followed up victory over Australia with a narrow 55-53 win over Denmark in their preliminary-round Group B match , while Para-archer Phoebe Paterson Pine beat Ecuador’s Diana Gonzabay Guaman to progress.

Zakia Khudadadi, from Afghanistan, became the first member of the Paralympic Refugee team to win a medal in Paris with bronze in the K44 -47kg Para-taekwondo category.

The 25-year-old, one of eight members of the Paralympic Refugee Team, said she hopes her achievement "sends a message for all the refugees in the world to follow hope, follow freedom and follow peace".

There are 49 gold medals to be won on Saturday and you can follow live text coverage of the action on the BBC Sport website and app from 12:30 BST.

In the pool, GB's Alice Tai will be strong favourite for gold in the S8 100m backstroke (17:06) as the fastest in the world.

Iona Winnifrith, the youngest member of ParalympicsGB at the age of 13, will aim to make the final of the women’s SM7 200m individual medley (19:10).

Rising Para-cycling star Archie Atkinson will hope to add the Paralympic title to his world gold in the C4 4,000m individual pursuit (qualifying 10:14, final 13:55) and Van Gass will seek to add another gold in the men’s C1-3 1,000m time trial (qualifying 09:19, final 13:07).

At Stade de France, both Thomas Young and Sophie Hahn will aim to retain their T38 100m crowns (18:35 and 19:06).

After failing to win a medal in Rio and Tokyo, a resurgent Weir bids to finish on the podium in the men's T54 5,000m final (19:25).

And in Para-archery, defending champion Paterson Pine and British team-mate Jodie Grinham, who is seven months pregnant, will hope to challenge for medals in the women’s compound (19:00).

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