Gold – Sophie Thornhill, Helen Scott (England) – 1:08.187
Silver – Aileen McGlynn, Louise Haston (Scotland) – 1:09.771
Bronze – Brandie O’Connor, Breanna Hargrave (Australia) – 1:10.543
So far these Games the tandem racing has been the stand out winner for both excitement and drama, and this final was the perfect example of that.
With Games records being put down by each of the first three teams we knew we were going to be in for something special.
Aileen McGlynn had shaved over three quarters of a second off of the Australian time, a huge amount at this level, and then it became a waiting game for the English duo to have their turn.
From the off Sophie looked like she was going to pull something special out of reserve and, sure enough, from the first quarter lap they were ahead on the Scottish team and never looked back. Over a second and a half quicker than the silver spot, Sophie and Helen set a new Games record and made sure that the tandem is everyones talking point.
Well done to all those taking part in my new favourite sport.
What They Said…
Sophie Thornhill (ENG) – gold
On being favourites after winning the women’s para sprint B2 tandem on Thursday:
“You never never take anything for granted. You’ve got to go out and go as fast as you can from the starting line and hope to win, and we did.”
On nerves before the race:
“You naturally get nervous and that’s because you care. We do this because we love it.”
On her time (1:08.187):
“To be honest, I had no idea what the time was. That was awesome, it means so much to me. It was pretty amazing the time we did. After we put so much in.”
On her ambitions for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games:
“Hopefully we can get there and win the tandem.”
Helen Scott (ENG) – gold
On comparing the sprint and the 1000m time trial:
“I think it hurts everyone exactly the same. It hurts way more than the sprint. You’re going for over a minute so it’s a lot harder. You always get a bit of a buzz with the sprint.”
On how she felt during and after the race:
“My legs are really painful afterwards. The pain kicks in after one and a half laps but it helps that we won so we can do a couple of victory laps. I’m going to lie down for a while.”
Aileen McGlynn (SCO) – silver
On gold medal winners Sophie Thornhill (ENG) and Helen Scott (ENG):
“We didn’t really know what times they would do. We didn’t think that far and that they would go that fast so hats of to them.”
On their own performance:
“We met our pb (personal best) so you can’t really ask for any more than that considering we started with tandems five months ago.”
On Scotland flag painted on her fingernails:
“I had these done on Tuesday in the village. I have ‘G’ on the two middle fingers – ‘G’ for Glasgow and ‘G’ for Graeme my boyfriend.”
On her diet:
“I’ve been really good with eating the last few months so I’ll probably just pig out now.”
Louise HASTON (SCO)
On Aileen McGlynn’s diet wishes after the race:
“Aileen has been eyeing the chocolate cake in the cafeteria.”
