Paris 2024 Paralympics day two: Great Britain picks up sweep of gold medals

Elizabeth Jordan, Dannielle Khan and Maisie Summers-Newton. Credit: PA

The UK picked up a sweep of gold medals during the second day of the Paris Paralympics, as British athletes came out on top in cycling and swimming.

Jaco van Gass and Lizzi Jordan claimed gold in the men's C3 3,000m and women’s B 1,000m respectively.

This was quickly followed up by Tully Kearney who picked up her second gold in two days in the Women's 100m Freestyle.

Tully Kearney picked up her second gold on Friday. Credit: PA

Minutes later, Maise Summer Newton picked gold in the Women's 200m SM6 IM.

ParalympicsGB entered the second day on a high after winning two golds on day one.

Teenager Poppy Maskill up gold with the women's S14 100m butterfly and this was later added to by Kearney, who won the women's S5 200m freestyle.

In total on day one ParalympicsGB picked up two golds, three silver and one bronze. On Day two they picked up four golds, three silver and two bronze.

Here's a breakdown of the UK's performance on day two of the Paralympics:

Cycling

Afghanistan veteran Van Gass smashed his own world record en route to successfully defend his gold from the previous competition.

ParalympicsGB picked up silver in the same race with Scottish rider Fin Graham coming in second.

Jaco-Albert van Gass (left) and Finlay Graham both won medals. Credit: PA

Not long later, Jordan, who lost her eyesight after contracting a rare strain of E. coli bacteria as a university student, then topped the podium alongside pilot Danni Khan in the women’s B 1,000m time trial.

Sophie Unwin and pilot Jenny Holl finished third in that event to cap a successful British day at the velodrome following silver and bronze respectively for Blaine Hunt and Matthew Robertson.

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Van Gass, who lost his left arm at the elbow after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade while serving with the Parachute Regiment in 2009, snatched back the world record in the heats – in a time of 3:15.488 – after briefly losing it to Graham.

The pair then went head-to-head, with the South Africa-born rider again coming out on top – with a winning margin of more than four seconds – to add to the two golds and bronze he won on debut at Tokyo 2020.

Van Gass had been unsure if could even compete after he was hit by a car just before the games.

Sophie Unwin (right) and pilot Jenny Holl won bronze. Credit: PA

Speaking after his win, with a cut on his head from the crash, he said was "heartbroken", adding: "I was literally like this could be my Paralympics done."

He said his knee his the car and it was badly bruised, which was his biggest concern, but he was able to get into shape in the following days and win the medal.

Earlier, Hunt outshone team-mates Jody Cundy and Archie Atkinson to win silver in the C4-5 1000m time trial.

Swimming

In the women's 100m breaststroke, Brock Whiston picked up the silver in her Paralympic debut.

Speaking after winning her gold Summers-Newton said she was "really nervous" about defending her title after being one of the breakout stars at the Toyko games.

Silver medalist Great Britain Brock Whiston on the podium. Credit: PA

She said: "It’s been a lot, but I’m just trying to enjoy it and remind myself: you’ve been at the top since 2018. It’s a long time."

At the last games she won double gold in the pool on her debut.

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