Strathpeffer cyclist wins gold medal at Paralympic Games for first time as he claims victory in Paris
FIN Graham spoke of his pride of winning his first ever Paralympic Games gold medal when he claimed victory in the C1-C3 Road Race.
The 24-year-old from Strathpeffer came out on top in a sprint finish for the line as he edged out Thomas Peyroton-Dartet from France to cross the line in a time of 1:34:19.
He beat the French cyclist in a sprint finish by 0.20 seconds to win the first Paralympic title of his career.
Alexandre Leaute of France finished in third place to claim bronze, 24 seconds behind the race winner.
Speaking after the race on Channel 4, Graham says he is delighted to end his Paralympic Games campaign with a gold medal.
He said: “I am so happy, after the time trials where the result didn’t go the way that I wanted, I wanted to finish with a good result.
“I knew that I was going well, but the French riders made the race so hard. Alexandre Leaute kept the pace high and made sure nobody could get away and then I got a gap and they did well from preventing anyone being able to come across. The French definitely made me work for it.
“I knew the French guys were going to be the strong ones. When I saw it was just me going away with those two, it would have been nice if there were bigger numbers.
“I was making sure they were doing the majority of the work and I knew it was going to come down to my sprint and I was happy to let it come down to that.
“I was always keeping my head over my shoulders to make sure I wasn’t getting jumped at any point.
“When Alex led it up the final climb, that was his attempt to lead Thomas out. In the last couple of races, I have managed to beat him in a sprint so I felt confident. I wanted him to lead it out because we were still far from the last corner and I was always confident I could past him.
“It is the biggest event in our calendar. I left it to the last event, I would have been more confident if I won gold in the first one, but I am so happy.”
He also competed in the C3 Time Trial on Wednesday when he finished in sixth place.
