Para cyclist Emily Petricola defends title as Australians sparkle in Paris velodrome

A joyous Emily Petricola has overcome a flare-up of multiple sclerosis to smash her own world record and successfully retain her 3,000m individual pursuit Paralympic gold medal.
On a triumphant Friday afternoon for Australia at Paris’s National Velodrome, Petricola’s medal was supplemented by a gold for Queenslander Korey Boddington in C4-5 1,000m time trial and Jessica Gallagher clinched silver in the women’s B 1,000m time trial.
Assisted by pilot Caitlin Ward, the second-place finish ensured Gallagher now has four Paralympic medals, two each in both summer and winter Games.
“I was selected for five Paralympics in eight years at the start of my career and then had an eight-year hiatus,” Gallagher said. “So for us to deliver on that performance means the world to me.”
But Petricola stole the show, surging to her second-straight gold just 15 minutes after Boddington had finished in first place in his first-ever Paralympic race.
Petricola had teased she was in a mood to medal earlier in the day when she set a world record of 3:35.856 in her qualifying trial. The 44-year-old came good on her promise, seeing off New Zealand’s Anna Taylor before being mobbed by family and friends.
“It’s been a really tough last eight weeks having an MS flare so this was no guarantee for me,” Petricola said. “This one has caused a lot of muscle spasm through my back, my left leg and then into my neck… my abdominal area – the whole thing is gone.
“We’ve had to manage my load just to make sure my leg turns over on the bike and I just kept telling myself that my body is trained for this, to go on autopilot and get it done. I feel so incredibly proud… I sang (the anthem) completely out of tune but I refuse to apologise for that.”
Petricola’s win a remarkable quarter-hour period for Australia which was kicked off by Boddington zipping to gold. Like Petricola, Boddington had topped the table in qualifying and he, too, was able to translate that into his maiden medal.
Boddington set a Paralympic record in his heat and just edged out Britain’s Blaine Hunt to win Australia’s second gold of the Games with a time of 1:01.650.
“If I worked as hard as I’m working now, I’d probably have been very good at school,” Boddington said with a smile. “This is unbelievable … I want to tell kids out there to go for their dreams and to fight for them. You’ve got to shoot for the stars.”
After a gold rush in the pool on day one of the Paralympics, it was a more disappointing day two for Australia. Keira Stephens (women’s S9 100m breaststroke) came fourth, while Tim Hodge finished fifth in the men’s S8 breaststroke.
Australia will face a do-or-die clash with Denmark on Saturday after bouncing back with a 55-53 win over hosts France. The Steelers lost their opener to Great Britain but can seal a finals berth by beating the Danes.
The Rollers suffered a second-straight loss to open their tournament, falling to a 68-60 defeat at the hands of Spain. Australia face reigning gold medallists USA on Sunday morning in Paris.
Australia duo Ameera Lee and Jonathan Milne passed through to the quarter-finals in their respective ties. Competing in the women’s individual compound singles, Lee saw off Indonesia’s Nur Alim 135-133, while Milne downed Yuya Oe of Japan 147-142.
Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager breezed through to the final by winning their heat in the 2000m PR3 mixed double sculls. The Australian duo recorded the best time of any side across Friday’s two qualifiers by finishing in 7min 11sec.