Kadeena Cox on her heartbreak in the velodrome following rollercoaster journey
Cox battled hard to make it to Paris but struggled to get comfortable before the start of her race
By Tom Harle in Paris
Kadeena Cox cruelly crashed out of the Paralympic time trial, and it was left to a team-mate who idolises her to win Britain’s first medal of the Games.
World record holder Cox was poised to strike for a medal but never looked in control coming out of the start gate for the final, slipping and veering violently onto the cote d’azur to fall on the first turn.
It became clear that there had been no mechanical issue which, under UCI rules, meant that she was not allowed a restart and Dutch rider Caroline Groot won gold. Cox was inconsolable after the crash and spent 30 minutes in floods of tears in track centre.
“It was a weird one, I didn’t feel comfortable in the gate,” said the Leeds native. “With a condition like mine, riding can’t always be perfect, and it was all over the shop.”
Trailblazer Cox battled a barrage of injuries to make the Games a decade after an MS diagnosis changed her life. She only got back on the bike two weeks ago after a recent calf tear and relapse of the disorder.
“It has been a rollercoaster, I guess that’s MS,” said Cox. “The fact that I got here was amazing in itself, I’m just gutted that I was able to ride a ride that was pretty great in the first round and then not go out there and show what I’m capable of.”
Cox first pierced the public consciousness at Rio 2016, where she reached the podium in athletics and cycling to become the first British athlete in 32 years to win medals in multiple sports.
In doing so, she inspired Daphne Schrager to swap track sprinting for the velodrome and now the 23-year-old has a Paralympic silver medal to her name.
Schrager’s medal was the first won by ParalympicsGB in Paris and it was presented to her by film star Jackie Chan, a special ambassador for the International Paralympic Committee.
“I wasn’t even allowed to ride a bike as a kid,” said Schrager, who has cerebral palsy. “They thought I’d just fall off and plough into a tree.
“I’ve started from scratch, and it has been a right journey. The improvement I have made on the programme has been amazing and I’m so lucky to be one of the people on National Lottery funding.”
Tandem pair Steve Bate and Chris Latham also claimed silver.
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