Husband and wife both win Paralympic gold for Team GB within 16 minutes

Husband and wife Neil and Lora Fachie both won Paralympic gold medals within the space of 16 minutes in Tokyo as Team GB dominated the track cycling events.

Neil and pilot Matt Rotherham obliterated their own world record to beat teammates James Ball and Lewis Stewart for gold in the B 1000m time trial.

They gained over a second from their former best of 59.278 to post a new mark of 58.038. It was Neil’s second Paralympic gold after he won this event with Barney Storey at London 2012.

Just 16 minutes later after Neil’s win, Lora Fachie and Corrine Hall retained their B 3000m pursuit title, finishing a little under two seconds ahead of Ireland’s Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal, with Britain’s Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl claiming bronze.

‘We both said at the beginning of the day, whatever happens let’s just enjoy ourselves,’ said Neil.

‘We knew this day would be our big one. It was the same in Rio: Lora got the gold, I got the silver. Back in London, I got gold and Lora missed out.

‘So finally we’ve managed to both do it together, and to both break the world record as well is beyond our dreams.

She showed her class again, beating China’s world record holder Liu Daomin in a new Paralympic record of one minute 32.34 seconds, with teammate Ellie Simmonds finishing fourth.

‘I just wanted to give it my all and try to get that gold,’ Summers-Newton told Channel 4. ‘Going into this morning, I thought silver would be fantastic.

‘But I knew I did a great heat swim and seeing the other competitors’ times, I thought gold might be on the cards. Over the last 25 metres I just had to grit my teeth and go for it.’

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