PARIS — Great Britain’s Ben Sandilands set a new world record to claim Paralympic gold in the men’s T20 1500m in Paris.
The 21-year-old Scottish runner, who won world gold in the French capital last year, crossed the line in three minutes and 45.40 seconds.
His time shaved 0.1 secs off the previous global best, held by American Michael Brannigan since 2017.
Brannigan clinched bronze at Stade de France, 4.51 secs behind Sandilands, while silver medallist Sandro Baessa of Portugal was 4.06 secs off the pace.
Games debutant Sandilands takes the title from fellow Scot Owen Miller, who won gold in three mins and 54.57 secs at Tokyo 2020 but is not in France due to injury.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Sandilands said. “I’ve put in so much hard work.
“I knew I had the speed in me at the end from my training.
“The timing has to be perfect and I went for it, and the world record means a lot. It’s incredible.”
Will Bayley believes he was denied his destiny to win a second Paralympic gold by an umpire who “wanted to be a part” of his men’s singles table tennis final.
The 36-year-old was competing in his fourth straight Class 7 singles final, having previously won Rio gold and silver in London and Tokyo.
He was up against Yan Shuo of China who had beaten him in the final in Tokyo, but Bayley felt that the match was swayed by Canadian referee Darek Mikita.
Bayley was shown two yellow cards, the first for dissent and the second for kicking the ball – which Bayley does to aid him in picking it up between points.
The second yellow card resulted in a point for Yan in the decider which reduced Bayley’s lead to one as the Chinese player went on to defend his title with a 3-2 win, and an 11-9 victory in the final game.
“I said ‘I’ve never seen anything like it’,” Bayley explained of what he told Mikita at the end of the match.
“I said ‘It is the Paralympic final’ and he just wanted to be part of it really.
“Say what you want, it is difficult to take, I am gutted and I am emotional as well and it is hard for me to talk logically.
“I thought it was a great game, I thought Yan played well, I thought he was superb as well.
“Some of the points were actually good and I was enjoying it, some of the balls I hit were unbelievable and he hit some unbelievable shots which I was surprised about as well.
“I enjoyed the match, I enjoyed being a part of it, it was a privilege, it was probably the best two class 7 players for a long time going head to head at their best.
“But I am gutted because I felt it was my destiny to win this tournament and someone just…It was what it was.”
Bayley and fellow table tennis player Rob Davies’ medals added a silver lining on a golden day for ParalympicsGB.
Alfie Hewett ended his long wait for Paralympic gold as he and Gordon Reid won their first men’s doubles gold together with a straight-set victory over Japan’s Takuya Miki and Tokita Oda.
The pair triumphed 6-2 6-1 to finally complete the career Golden Slam and win the 300th gold medal at an Olympic or Paralympic Games since National Lottery funding began.
“We finally did it, it’s ours,” Reid said. “Sometimes you need to feel some pain to enjoy the highs when they come, we need to really savour this moment.
“We’ve been desperate for this for a long time, we’ve come close twice and felt that heartbreak and pain. Those matches have been some of the toughest moments of my career, so to sit here with the gold around our necks is one of the best feelings I’ve had in sport.”
From first-time Paralympic champion to 19th, the day began with Sarah Storey winning her 14th straight cycling gold in the women’s road race.
The 46-year-old outsprinted teenage home hopeful Heidi Gaugain to claim her second gold of the Games and move her overall tally to 30.
Storey said: “The key is not to be afraid to lose a bike race. I have to trust myself and not overthink things and just go on instinct sometimes.
“When you’re up against a 19-year-old, you remember what that was like. I think back to when I was 19. I had just come back from the Games in Atlanta, I had my fifth gold medal as a swimmer, and I was in the form of my life
“Using that experience, the nippiness of a 19-year-old, I’m still nippy for a 46-year-old but I have to use it wisely.”
Sophie Unwin also won gold as she claimed a fourth medal in her fourth cycling event at Paris 2024 across both road and track.
She won the Women’s B road race alongside guide Jennie Holl with teammate Lora Fachie winning bronze for her third medal of the Games.
At the Grand Palais, Dimitri Coutya won his second wheelchair fencing gold of the Games, with victory in the men’s epee Category B final, as compatriot Piers Gilliver lost the Category A final.
The pool brought its customary medals as Poppy Maskill won gold in the women’s backstroke for her fifth medal of the Games while Olivia Newman-Baronisus won her first in the same event.
Mark Tompsett won bronze in the men’s equivalent after Maisie Summers-Newton had begun the evening’s swimming with bronze in the women’s 400m freestyle.
Defending champion Hollie Arnold saw her women’s javelin Paralympic record taken from her as she finished third, while Sammi Kinghorn won her fifth medal as part of the 4x100m universal relay with Zac Shaw, Jonnie Peacock and Ali Shaw.
Wheelchair racer Kinghorn has matched Tanni Grey-Thompson who was the last member of a British athletics squad to win five medals at one Games, doing so at Barcelona 1992.