Worryingly for her rivals, the 38-year-old said this week she is only getting quicker and proved that was no empty threat by catching compatriot Crystal Lane after only 1625m of the C5 3,000m individual pursuit.
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By retaining her London 2012 title, Storey now becomes Britain’s most decorated female Paralympian in the 66-year history of the movement.
She was forced out of the water in 2005 before switching to cycling to win two golds at Beijing.
Storey, who had broken her own world record in qualification earlier today, had a storming start that put her inside that pace and clinched gold after overtaking Lane at 1,250 metres, a lap under half-distance.
Not to be overlooked, Lane, who was appearing in her second Paralympics, took silver to claim her first medal at the Games. With Barney Storey – technical adviser, mechanic and husband – her three-year-old daughter Louisa and both sets of grandparents all living in a large apartment on the beach front, Storey has been immersed in her cause, eschewing the Athletes’ Village, nearly creating her own.
‘To go quicker than London after having my daughter Louisa is the icing on the cake.
And she is hoping to match her tally of four Paralympic gold medals from four years ago in London.
“You can never underestimate anyone on the other side of the track”.
The honour of Britain’s first medal of the XV Paralympics went to Megan Giglia, however, who won gold in the C1-2-3 3km individual pursuit moments prior to Storey. With a qualifying time of 12: 17 seconds, she is a strong medal contender on Friday.
She overtook her team-mate before the halfway point in the final to claim gold.
Nerves do not seem to afflict her and it was clear that becoming a double world champion was not beginner’s luck when the 31-year-old from Stratford-upon-Avon, a C3 rider, broke a world record in her first ever Paralympics race, winning her heat in 4min 03.544sec. “I only look forward to the future”.
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Brazil celebrated their first gold medal of the Games after T11 long jumper Ricardo Costa de Oliveira’s final-round leap of 6.52m beat American Lex Gillette. We do a lot of travelling together and I’m her constant.
