Para cyclists Korey Boddington and Emily Petricola win gold at Paris ...
6 hours agoFri 30 Aug 2024 at 3:16pm
Australia's Emily Petricola celebrates her stunning victory at the Paris Paralympics. (Reuters: Gonzalo Fuentes)
Emily Petricola defended her Paralympic crown in the women's C4 3,000m individual pursuit.
Paralympic debutant Korey Boddington claimed his gold medal in the men's C4-5 1,000m time trial.
What's next?Australia will be represented at the National Velodrome on day three of the competition.
Australia's para cyclists have shone on day two of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, winning two gold medals and a silver at the National Velodrome.
Korey Boddington and Emily Petricola secured gold medals within 15 minutes of each other, while Jessica Gallagher claimed a silver medal in the final event of the day.
Petricola claimed her gold in the women's C4 3,000m individual pursuit, defending the title she had won in Tokyo three years earlier.
The Australian sounded a warning to her rivals in qualifying, setting a new world record of 3:35.856 earlier in the day.
Petricola ensured she did not need the full 3,000m in her gold medal race against New Zealand's Anna Taylor, catching the Kiwi rider with more than a lap remaining.
The Paralympic champion described the feeling of defending her title as "better than I expected" as she had her family in attendance.
"I have people from home that are with me here. This is the first time they were able to see me race internationally. I feel so proud.," she said.
"I have my brother and his kids, my best friends, my oldest friends. These are the people that picked me up when I was at my lowest point when I first got sick. They've seen me at my worst and now they got to see that I have done something pretty amazing."
Just 15 minutes earlier, Paralympic debutant Korey Boddington claimed his gold medal in the men's C4-5 1,000m time trial.
Korey Boddington is racing for gold in Paris. (Getty Images: Michael Steele)
After setting a Paralympic record of 1:02.021 in the heats that morning, Boddington converted his status as the fastest qualifier into a gold medal.
"If I worked as hard as I'm working now, I'd probably have been very good at school," a jubilant Boddington said.
"This is unbelievable. I want to tell kids out there to go for their dreams. To fight for them. You gotta shoot for the stars."
Jessica Gallagher capped off a great day for Australia in the final event of day two, winning a silver medal in the women's B 1,000m time trial.
