Dame Sarah Storey cemented her legacy as Britain’s greatest Paralympic athlete by claiming a record-extending 18th gold medal – and then accused organisers of sexism.
Storey, 46, won the women’s C5 cycling time trial in Paris on Wednesday for a fifth consecutive Games, 32 years after making her Paralympic debut as a swimmer at Barcelona 1992.
She fought back from seven seconds behind at the halfway checkpoint to beat France’s Heidi Gaugain by four seconds on the 14.1km course.
“I’m on top of the world. I came here to try and get the gold medal for the fifth time and I’ve done it. It was the perfectly-paced ride,” said Storey.
“I was down seven seconds at the first time check, but I knew that was the easiest part of the course because there were quite a few descents and technical sections where you can get free speed, have a recovery and be prepared for that first climb.
“It was a carrot knowing that I was down. You’ve just got to empty the tank to the finish.”
Storey’s delight was tempered with dismay that the women’s race took place over just one lap of the course in Clichy-sous-bois, where the men will do two laps.
“This is the shortest Paralympic time trial we’ve ever had and I think it’s a real shame. I hope this is the only time it’s less than 20k,” she added.
“You have to ask the organisers [why it was so short]. But there’s plenty of time in the day for us to do two laps like the men.
“Having fought so hard for parity in women’s cycling, to not have it in Para cycling after what we had in Glasgow [at the world championships] last year is a real disappointment.
“I’ve had to put that disappointment aside and just concentrate on what I can control because I couldn’t control the race distance.
“But I really hope that they never do this to the women again because I think it’s been appalling.”
Storey could yet take her tally of Paralympic golds to 19 when she defends her road race title on Friday but said the time trial was the one she wanted most.
“I’m going to have a ride tomorrow. Rest the legs, eat well and be prepared to see what happens,” she said.
“Anything can happen in a road race and this was the race that I came for initially so I’m out there to try and have a bit of fun on Friday.”