Four golds for GB on day two of Paralympics

Tully Kearney claimed her second gold medal of the Paris Paralympics while Maisie Summers-Newton, Jaco van Gass and Lizzi Jordan also secured victories on an outstanding second day of action for Great Britain.

Just 24 hours after Kearney picked up swimming gold in the S5 200m freestyle, she returned to the pool to successfully defend her 100m freestyle title.

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

Earlier, ParalympicsGB claimed six medals in the velodrome, with Van Gass winning the first British gold on the track with victory over team-mate Finlay Graham in the men’s 3000m individual pursuit final.

Jordan also topped the podium with her pilot Dannielle Khan in the women’s B 1,000m time trial, while Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl took the bronze.

Blaine Hunt, who sported a magnificent handlebar moustache, had started the 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.

After winning gold on Thursday evening, Kearney was back in the first heat of the day in the S5 100m freestyle, which she won comfortably. In the final, she forged ahead of Ukrainian silver medallist Iryna Poida on the last length, with Italy’s Monica Boggioni taking bronze.

It was then Summers-Newton’s turn to shine on the world stage, powering ahead of the field to finish in two minutes 56.90 seconds, which was just outside her world record. Team-mate Grace Harvey placed fourth, while Bruce Dee finished in the same position in the men’s race.

Twin sisters Scarlett and Eliza Humphrey finished seventh and eighth respectively in their first Paralympics 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 also took silver in Tokyo.

Graham had hoped to turn the tables, but 38-year-old Van Gass quickly opened up a sizeable lead in the final.

He later revealed his victory came just a week after he was hit by a car on a training ride in Paris.

It was then Jordan’s time to shine with her pilot Khan after they beat off challenges from Australia’s Jessica Gallagher and pilot Caitlin Ward, who claimed silver.

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

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

British Para-rower Benjamin Pritchard had an outstanding morning in the Vaires-sur-Marne stadium.

The 32-year-old set a Paralympics Games best time in the PR1 men’s single sculls heats in 8:51.26 to progress to the final. He claimed bronze in the event at this year’s World Championships and was fifth at Tokyo 2020.

In athletics, GB’s Paralympic debutant Zac Shaw required a photo finish to qualify for Saturday’s final of the men’s T12 100m, where he will aim to upgrade the bronze medal he won at this year’s worlds.

Eden Rainbow-Cooper qualified fifth in the women’s T54 5,000m to reach the final at her first Paralympics.

Para-badminton player Dan Bethell, who won his match on Thursday in front of former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, was victorious against Japan’s Daisuke Fukihara in the men’s singles SL3 group stage and will take on Ukraine’s Oleksandr Chyrkov in a group B match on Saturday.

Boccia player Stephen McGuire won his BC4 pool C match against Ukraine’s Artem Kolinko 7-1 and will go up against Canada’s Iulian Ciobanu at the South Paris Arena on Saturday.

Meanwhile, GB’s Beth Munro lost her taekwondo K44 -65kg quarter-final bout to China’s Yao Yinan. She later lost her repechage to leave Paris empty-handed.

GB’s wheelchair rugby team, who claaimed a stunning victory over Australia on Thursday, narrowly beat Denmark 55-53 in their preliminary-round group B match at the Champs-de-Mars Arena, while Para-archer Phoebe Pine Paterson progressed after beating Ecuador’s Diana Guaman Gonzabay.