China stormed ahead on the medal table, clinching the first gold in shooting, while British swimmer Jonathan Fox and cyclist Sarah Storey broke world records.
The British Paralympics team is hoping for 103 medals in total, if all goes to plan, meaning they’ll finish second in the overall table. Colbourne has set GB on track for their goal with a record breaking 8.471 seconds in the race.
“I’ve worked for the last eight months towards this,” Colbourne said. “A big thanks goes to all the coaches for getting me into the best shape possible.”
Like many of the competitors Colbourne has a heart-wrenching story. He was involved in a paragliding accident in 2009 and broke his back, causing paralysis in his lower leg. The wing of his paraglider collapsed in front of him and he fell around 40ft to the ground. A few months later, his passion for sport and his refusal to sit still lead him to para-cycling.
Colbourne has relentlessly trained during the last three years and it’s paid off, “I was just completely focused on the black line. We’ve done this hundreds of times in training and it’s about repeating the process,” he said. “I probably only heard the crowd on lap three when I had relaxed into my stride.”
Other records were also broken today, within the first hour team GB swimmer Nyree Kindred set a new Paralympic record in the S6 100m backstroke, the final will take place later on today.
Sadly, it’s not all good news for Britain. The nation had high hopes for shooter Di Coates who just missed out in a place in the R2 air rifle final. Britain’s double judo world champion Ben Quilter, from Brighton, was also defeated today by Mouloud Nourain from Algeria. He needs to beat USA’s Ron Hawthorne to have a shot at a medal.
