Afghanistan veteran Jaco van Gass wins gold as Britain enjoys more track cycling success at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
Soldier turned sportsman and adventurer Jaco van Gass has won Britain’s second gold medal of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
Van Gass, who lost an arm while serving in Afghanistan, beat team-mate Fin Graham in the final of the men’s track cycling C3 3,000m individual pursuit.
The South Africa-born 35-year-old trailed Graham early on but fought back to add Paralympic gold to his two world titles.
It was a second British one-two in the individual pursuit in as many days, after Dame Sarah Storey beat ParalympicsGB colleague Crystal Lane-Wright in the women’s C5 event on day one of the Games.
Van Gass’s success capped a productive day for the team in the Izu Velodrome.
Jody Cundy became the first British man to win a medal at seven Paralympic Games, taking silver in the C4-5 1,000m time trial.
Cundy, 42, who previously competed in swimming, lost out to Spain’s Alfonso Caballo Llamas, who won gold in a new world record time.
“I did the best I could,” Cundy told Channel 4. “Sadly it wasn’t quite enough but I can hold my head up high. I was beaten by the better man.”
Tandem pair Aileen McGlynn and Helen Scott also won silver in the B 1,000m time trial, repeating their result from the London 2012 Paralympics.
“It’s amazing to do the time we did, which was a 2.5 second personal best for us as a team,” said McGlynn. “We are so proud of what we achieved.”