ParalympicsGB's day one medal haul

GB athletes have got off to a flying start on day one of the London Paralympics taking medals in cycling, swimming and judo.

Gold medals won by cyclist Sarah Storey and swimmer Jonathan Fox helped to place Great Britain in third in the Paralympic medal table at the end of the first day.

Sarah Storey took a supreme victory in the women's C5 three-kilometres individual pursuit at the velodrome.

Fastest qualifier Storey caught final opponent Anna Harkowska of Poland after six and a half of the 12 laps to triumph to rapturous applause from the 6,000-capacity crowd.

The 34-year-old from Manchester won her eighth Paralympic title and third as a cyclist in a career which began as a 14-year-old swimmer in Barcelona in 1992.

Storey said the victory was not as easy as it looked.

"Mentally you've got to prepare, anything can happen," she told Channel 4. "I have to respect all my competitors.

"I didn't expect to be able to catch her as quick as I did, I stepped my game up as well.

"So much goes into it emotionally that nothing's ever easy at this level."

Asked what she was thinking as she chased down her opponent, she said: "Just, 'gotta get there quick, quick, quick!'

"I was like, 'It's not gonna be this lap, maybe the next lap...'

"You're just willing the rider to come to you as quick as possible so you can just finish."

Storey now has another three events to prepare for.

The first gold for the ParalympicsGB swimming team was won by Jonathan Fox in the men's 100m backstroke S7 final after setting a new world record in the heats.

The 21-year-old had lowered his own world record this morning in the heats, dipping under 1min 10secs for the first time.

Fox said: "It was a good time - 1:10 - I thought I was going to pip the world record again.

"I am very happy I got a gold medal.

"In the final it's all about getting that gold medal around your neck which I have done so I am really happy."

ParalympicsGB cyclist Mark Colbourne bagged ParalympicsGB's first medal of the Games today - a silver - just three years after breaking his back in a horrific paragliding accident.

The 42-year-old's silver medal-winning performance in the men's individual C1-2-3 1km time trial marks an incredible turnaround, after he was forced into an emergency landing when his paraglider wing collapsed in May 2009.

Colbourne, from Tredegar, South Wales, was a keen athlete from a young age and represented Wales in volleyball from 1990-1993, competing in three British Championships.

But he plummeted 40ft (12m) to the ground in the paragliding accident and suffered life-changing injuries. He underwent five months of gruelling physiotherapy just to learn to walk again.

Talking about his silver-medal win, Colbourne told Channel 4: "It's very exciting. We have worked for the last eight months towards this and big thanks to all the coaches who got me in the best shape possible. I'm very happy."

Nyree Kindred won Great Britain's first medal in the pool when she was second in the S6 100 metres backstroke with a world record from China's Lu Dong needed to beat the Briton at the Aquatics Centre.

Also in the pool, ParalympicsGB's Hannah Russell, who is 16, finished in second place in the women's 400m Freestyle S12 final at the Aquatics Centre at Olympic Park.

"It's a dream come true. I've come here to try my absolute best and to come away with a medal is a bonus and the cherry on the top," the 16-year-old told Channel 4. "I couldn't believe it."

Russell did not realise quite how close the race was.

"I had no idea," she said. "I could hear the crowd when I was coming in on the last length.

"I tried to just give it my all and keep my head down and keep going as hard as I could to the finish."

ParalympicsGB's Ben Quilter also took bronze today in the men's -60kg men's judo.

Speaking on Channel 4 after his bronze-medal match, he said he was "so pleased" to be at the Paralympics, adding he had had an "epic journey" to reach the Games after suffering a serious injury six weeks ago.

ParalympicsGB's Zoe Newson has won Bronze in the -40kg women's powerlifting at her first Paralympic Games.

The 20-year-old from Colchester lifted 88kg to secure a podium spot in the women's under 40kg category in front of an electric home crowd in east London.