Plat completed the 24 kilometer time trial at Fuji International Speedway in 37.28 minutes. He was one minute faster than Austrian Thomas Frühwirth in the H4 class. The German Alexander Gritsch took the bronze at 2.30 minutes.
“We have number 2”, Plat exulted afterwards. “I’m so happy. I didn’t leave any presents today. It went maximum. On to tomorrow, then the last one”, he looked ahead to the road race, his third chance at gold.
Valize took 38.12 minutes in the class H5 and was convincingly the fastest. He was also one minute faster than his best competitor, the Frenchman Loïc Vergnaud. Irishman Gary O’Reilly won the bronze. Tim de Vries remained in the same class H in fifth place. The 43-year-old hand biker had to give in to his compatriot for 3.20 minutes.
At Valize, the realization had to sink in for a while that he was Paralympic champion. “Unbelievable,” he said. “Playing for the first time and I immediately take gold in the time trial. Since this year I am really master of this part.”
Cyclist Abraham takes gold on time trial in Tokyo
Dutch cyclist Daniël Abraham Gebru has won gold in the time trial. In the C5 class, the originally Eritrean cyclist was clearly the best.
Abraham completed the 32 kilometers at Fuji International Speedway in 42.46 minutes, 32 seconds faster than Yegor Dementjev from Ukraine. Bronze was 50 seconds ahead of Australia’s Alistair Donohoe.
Abraham won gold in the road race (C4-5) at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Then he took advantage of a fall from his competitors Dementjev and Donohoe who sprinted for the gold and both crashed just before the finish.
Vincent Ter Schure
Vincent Ter Schure took silver in the B-class with driver Timo Fransen. Partly due to bad luck on the way and a bike change, the duo was only slower than the French Alexandre Lloveras and pilot Corentin Ermenault. Tristan Bangma finished sixth with pilot Patrick Bos. They conceded more than 5 minutes to the French winners.
Marlene van Gansewinkel
Para-athletes Marlène van Gansewinkel and Kimberly Alkemade have ensured double Dutch success in the 200 meters at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
Van Gansewinkel captured the title in a time of 26.22 seconds. Alkemade was good for third place with a time of 26.80.
Van Gansewinkel previously won bronze in the long jump. She also competes in the 100 meters. Van Gansewinkel looked back on a great race. “I felt so ready for this. I’ve never been so ready. I had to go for it and then I knew I had a chance. I’m just a Paralympic champion. Who would have thought that.”
Alkemade was not satisfied with her start. “The start didn’t go well. I wasn’t sharp. I gave everything after that. Marlene was stronger. But I can’t complain. These are my first Paralympic Games. I still have a lot of years to go.”
Chantalle Zijderveld
Swimmer Chantalle Zijderveld has won her fourth medal at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo. The 20-year-old Zwijndrechtse won the bronze medal in the 100-meter butterfly on Tuesday in a time of 1.07.91. The American Mikaela Jenkins won in 1.07.52.
Earlier in the Japanese capital, Zijderveld took gold in the 100-meter breaststroke and silver in the 50 and 100-meter freestyle.
Zijderveld called the bronze medal the most beautiful medal she has ever won. “This is really crazy. Beforehand I wanted to take a medal at every distance. This one was difficult because it is my least good distance. Then bronze is great. My time was not so good, but that is not going to be in the Paralympic final to.” On the second track towards the finish, Zijderveld came close to her Australian and American competitors. “I came very close. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out, but bronze is really great.”
Jennette Jansen
Jennette Jansen, who is in her seventh Games, took bronze in the time trial in the H4/5 class. 53-year-old Jansen previously won eight medals at the Paralympic Games in, among other things, athletics, wheelchair basketball and hand biking. Top favorite Chantal Haenen, who became world champion in this part in June, just missed the medals with a fourth place. The gold went to the American Oksana Masters.
