SEPTEMBER 7 - WELSHMAN Simon Richardson (pictured) today clinched Britain's first gold medal of the Paralympics, inevitably in the Laoshan Velodrome, the scene of so much glory during the Olympics last month.

 

The 41-year-old took, what even he called, a “completely unexpected” gold in the LC3-4 1km time trial with a world record 1min 14.936sec.

 

He said: “I’m totally shocked.

 

"This is a completely unexpected gold medal.

 

"This race was really a warm up for the 3km, so I went into it thinking, ‘Whatever we get’.”

 

Second-placed Masaki Fujita of Japan was more than two seconds slower than Richardson, while 2004 champion Greg Ball of Australia took bronze with a world record for his LC4 class.

 

Richardson said: “I knew after setting that time that only the Japanese guy was really a rival.

 

"So I knew it would be gold or silver as soon as I finished.

 

The medal caps a remarkable come-back for the Porthcawl man who used to be a club cyclist before he was hit by a car while out training in 2001.

 

He only returned to the pedals three years ago after his doctor told him he would lose his leg if he didn’t to do some exercise.

 

He said: “That’s what got me back into cycling."