Daphne Schrager and Steve Bate Secure Silver in Track Cycling

Daphne Schrager and Steve Bate secured Great Britain’s first medals at the 2024 Paralympics in track cycling, despite a setback for their team-mate Kadeena Cox. Schrager won silver in the women’s C1-3 3000m individual pursuit and Bate with pilot Chris Latham also earned silver in the men’s B 4000m individual pursuit final. Unfortunately, Cox a four-time Paralympic champion crashed out of the women’s C4-5 500m time trial and did not finish the final.

Cox, who had qualified second fastest, experienced a disastrous start in the final slipping and falling on the velodrome track during her attempt to correct her position. As a result, she missed out on adding a gold medal to her collection. Despite her earlier strong performance in qualifying, the new format’s rules prevented her from restarting the race.

The first gold of the Games went to Dutch rider Caroline Groot with France’s Marie Patouillet taking silver and Canada’s Katie O’Brien earning bronze. In the men’s B 4000m individual pursuit, Bate and Latham finished 2.2 seconds behind the Netherlands’ Tristan Bangma and Patrick Bos, who retained their Paralympic title from Tokyo. Bate, who briefly held the world record before the Dutch duo reclaimed it, may be competing in his final Games.

He expressed that this could be a fitting end to his Paralympic career but has not yet decided on his future plans. Daphne Schrager, who was excited to receive her silver medal from cinema icon Jackie Chan, expressed her disappointment at not winning gold but remains hopeful for future success. Despite the setback, Cox remains optimistic and is set to compete in the mixed C1-5 team sprint event later in the Games.