This exhibition of Paralympic Track Cycling just gets better and better. Seven more world records went down on Tuesday and more must surely be reset in the final day on Wednesday by an utterly dominant British team, which has now racked up seven gold medals, three of them on September 9, and contains no less than three double gold medalists.
First to turn one into two was Darren Kenny of Great Britain, Paralympic cycling's equivalent of Ussein Bolt, who set the track on fire scorching round to take the Men's 1km Time Trial (CP3) gold and smash the world record by almost three seconds, the first CP3 rider ever under 1:10.
It was almost a matter of pride for Kenny. Just moments earlier he'd seen his teammate Rik Waddon take two seconds off the world record he set at the 2007 World Championships in France. If he needed any incentive to burn the track down, this was it.
British double gold medalist number two was Simon Richardson who proved unbeatable in the Men's Individual Pursuit (LC3) final taking the crown by six seconds from Fujita Masaki of Japan.
The British rider was always favorite, having set a new world and Paralympic record in the heats, cropping nearly eight seconds from the previous world best set two years ago at Aigle, Switzerland.
Richardson didn't have it all his own way though, falling 1.5 seconds behind the Japanese cyclist at 1km after Fujita set off at a furious pace in an attempt to establish an unassailable lead. Richardson refused to be drawn into chasing his foe too early and gradually chipped away at the lead as Fujita tired.
By the 2km mark, the lead had changed hands and remained with the British rider.
Aileen Mcglynn and her pilot Ellen Hunter made it three double British gold medalists in a row when they wrecked the gold medal hopes of Lindy Hou of Australia, piloted by Toireasa Gallagher, speeding away from the start in the final of the Women's Individual Pursuit (B&VI 1-3), and never looked like being caught.
Mcglynn and Hunter were three seconds up at 2km and, despite a spirited charge by Hou and Gallagher over the final kilometer, the gap at the finish was 1.5 seconds.
Mark Bristow also came to Britain's party at last finally establishing himself as a world beater by taking gold in the Men's 1km Time Trial (LC1) in a new world record time. His previous individual bests were third in the Paralympic World Cup 1km Time Trial earlier this year and fourth in the 1km Time Trial at the World Championships in 2007.
Better known as a Team Sprint rider, in which he helped Britain take gold at both the World Championships and the World Cup, Bristow blazed round the track, never falling below world record pace and flashed over the line in a time of 1:08.873, trimming 0.2 second off the record.
Zhang Kuidong of China surprised everyone by taking silver, the first medal of the Games for China's men.
Yet another gold came Britain's way when Jody Cundy stormed home to set a new world record in the Men's 1km Time Trial (LC2).
Choosing the Time Trial as his only track event, Cundy had nothing to lose in pressing the pedal to the floor from the gun. With just a quarter of the distance gone he was already two seconds up on his closest rival and pressed home his advantage to carve over three seconds from his own world record set at last year's Paralympic Cycling World Championships in Bordeaux, France.
Second-placed Jiri Jezek of the Czech Republic could only stare in wonder as the British rider romped home more than five seconds faster than his own time, which had been a Paralympic record until Cundy shattered it.
While the British team was having a gold medal bonanza, two other golds won by Italy and Japan seemed almost petulant.
Ishii Masashi of Japan took the Men's 1km Time Trial (CP3) gold in a new world record time and gained sweet revenge for his millisecond defeat in the CP3 Individual Pursuit event at the hands of Australia's Chris Scott last Sunday.
Chasing a new Paralympic record time set by Jiri Czech Bouska moments earlier, Ishii flew away from the start and was always ahead of the pace, flashing across the line in 1:08.771, two seconds faster than Bouska to take Japan's first track cycling gold of the Games.
In the Men's Individual Pursuit (LC4) final Paolo Vigano of Italy proved himself a worthy favorite and duly took gold. There was no doubt about the result after Vigano cut four seconds off the world and Paralympic record in the heats, becoming the first LC4 rider to go under four minutes for the distance.
Vigano overwhelmed his opponent Michael Teuber of Germany by eight seconds and made up for his disappointment in failing to make the medals in the Time Trial (LC3-4) last Sunday despite setting a new world record in the LC4 class.
(BOCOG September 9, 2008)