ParalympicsGB continues to have medal-winning fun on second Friday in France

Following the immensely successful performances of Team Great Britain over last weekend in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the world has been looking forward to even more excitement from these extraordinary athletes. Of course ParalympicsGB met and exceeded expectations, with the number of medals now standing at 100. Let's take a look at what happened on September 6.

The 30th Storey medal

Dame Sarah Storey is known as both a swimmer and a cyclist, but her victory today in the women's C4-5 road race. Her narrow victory over France's Heidi Gaugain and Colombia's Paula Andrea Ossa Veloza marks her 19th gold medal in nine Paralympics and her 30th medal overall.

The 46-year-old Paralympian described herself as reported by HuffPost.com as "just delighted" with the results at the finish line. She detailed the intensity of the last effort later:

"Heidi Gaugain attacked with a lap and a half to go. Fortunately I speak a bit of French so I understood what she was told. So I was ready to attack with her."

- Dame Sarah Storey

This victory came just two days after she won her 18th Paralympic gold medal in the C5 individual time trial.

Unwin and Holl take home gold gold

Meanwhile, another pair of cyclists rode to victory in the Women's B Road Race. Says the BBC, "Sophie Unwin won her fourth medal of the Games...alongside pilot Jenny Holl." This was their pair's second gold medal in the past five days.

With a margin of just 3 seconds, they finished the race ahead of Ireland's Katie-George Dunlevy and her pilot Linda Kelly. 95 seconds later, fellow Team Great Britain athletes Fachie and Hall took the bronze medal in the event.

A gold eclipse

In 2021, ParalympicsGB won a total of 41 gold medals out of their cumulative 124 medals. Thanks to wheelchair fencer Dimitri Coutya, that number has been surpassed already in Paris. He won Team Great Britain's 42nd gold medal in the men's epee B event.

Of Friday's 16 medals, 6 of them were gold. Poppy Maskill took her third gold medal in the women's S14 100m backstroke, while Ben Sandilands won the men's T200 1500m gold.

After setting a new world record and winning the race, Sandiland made sure to come to the aid of any other athletes still on the ground. Only when they were seen to did he celebrate his monumental victory.

In men's wheelchair tennis doubles, Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid made their gold dreams a reality. They had lost in the finals in two previous Paralympics and Reid reflected on the long road behind them, saying that "we have come so close twice and felt that heartbreak, felt that pain...That's been some of the toughest moments in my career. To sit here with the gold around our necks, it's up there with one of the best."

The silver lining

Para-table tennis had a great day for Team Great Britain, with the silver medals in the men's MS1 and men's MS7 events going to Robert Davies and Will Bayley respectively. According to Bayley, a scoring choice at a crucial moment resulted in his loss:

"I just felt it was unnecessary and unfair, that's how I felt, I told him that, but it's sport though and I have to find a way of dealing with it. "

- Will Bayley

PIers Gilliver won fencing silver in the men's epee A event.

In Para-athletics, Marcus Perrineau-Daley took silver in the men's T52 100m final. in a universal relay race of the 4x100m variety, Zac Shaw, Ali Smith, Jonnie Peacock, and Samantha Kinghorn likewise took the silver.

Bronze triumphs

As Maskill won the backstroke gold, OliviaNewman-Baronius claimed the bronze medal for Team Great Britain. In the women's S6 400m freestyle, Maisie Summers-Newton won bronze. On the men's side of things, Mark Tompsett took his place on the podum by winning bronze in the men's S14 100m backstroke.

100 medals are an incredible feat, but there is more excitement to come from the indomitable ParalympicsGB team in the remainder of the competitions.