Aberdeen’s Neil Fachie smashed his own world record to storm to gold in the B 1000m time trial at the Paralympics in Tokyo.
The 37-year-old and guide Matt Rotherham finished in a time of 58.038 as the Aberdonian claimed his second Paralympic gold following his London 2012 success.
British teammates James Ball and Lewis Stewart (pilot) won silver in 59.503 with France’s Raphael Beaugillet and Francois Pervis taking home bronze for France.
And it got even better for Fachie soon after when his wife Lora won gold in the 3000m individual pursuit.
GB's 10th gold medal in Tokyo! 🥇@neilfachie (pilot @MattRotherham) breaks his own world record to top the B 1000m time trial charts 🚴♂️#Tokyo2020 #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/41GFFq0IGL
— C4 Paralympics (@C4Paralympics) August 28, 2021
Fachie said: “We were the first medal ride and we had to deliver.
“Not only did we do but our teammates got the silver as well.
“To break the world record and then watch my wife win gold was just unreal.
“What a day – you will never forget this.”
The Aberdonian added: “We thought we would have to break it to win the gold.
“We knew we could go quick.
“All the talk was about breaking that 59-second barrier and we almost broke the 58-second barrier which was phenomenal.
“Training has been superb and I have had a guy alongside me who is so hungry to win.
“You know you can’t really help going well with someone like that beside you.”
Rotherham said: “We prepared for all scenarios.
“We know if everyone else goes fast we will go even faster.
“If they don’t go as fast we can still deliver.
“We had gone 59.00 in training and the lads did 59.05 so we just had to make sure we had a clean ride and ride within ourselves and get across the line.
“We wanted to set a benchmark as we came here in the form of our lives so we wanted to get the fastest time possible and push the world record as hard as we can.
“We might not even touch that again but it might be out of everyone else’s reach for a while too.”
‘A fantastic result’
Reacting to the result, chair of sportscotland, Mel Young said: “The word legend is often overused in the world of sport but that is exactly what Neil Fachie is.
“He is one of the world’s greatest ever para-cyclists and it was a joy to see him on that podium once again.
“Yet another gold medal added to the collection and I hope he savours every minute of it. This a fantastic result for everyone at British and Scottish Cycling.”
And it got even better for Fachie soon after when his wife Lora won gold in the 3000m individual pursuit.
