Star Italian wheelchair fencer Bebe Vio suffered a shock defeat at the Paralympics on Wednesday as British cycling great Sarah Storey won her 18th gold — and then slammed the “appalling” course.
Storey, who is competing in her ninth Paralympics, dominated the C5 time trial in the Paris suburbs ahead of French hope Heidi Gaugain.
But Storey, 46, said the 14.1-kilometer course was “appalling” and that she had never raced on a Games course shorter than 22 km.
“This is the shortest Paralympic time trial we have ever had, and I think it’s a real shame because we don’t get to showcase parasport in the way we want to,” Storey said.
“You’ll have to ask organizers. There’s plenty of time in the day for us to do two laps like the men. Having fought so hard for parity in women’s cycling, to not have it is a real disappointment.
The Briton added: “I really hope that they never do this to the women again because I think it’s been appalling.”
Storey, who was born without a functioning left hand, has now won 29 Paralympics medals of all colors since she made her debut at the 1992 Barcelona Games in the sport of swimming at age 14.
U.S. cyclist Oksana Masters, who was born in Ukraine with birth defects believed to be linked to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, including missing thumbs and weight-bearing bones in her legs, claimed the seventh Paralympic gold of her career by winning the H4-5 category.
The 35-year-old, who was adopted by an American family, has previously won medals in rowing and in a range of winter sports including cross-country skiing.
Another of the global stars of the Paralympics, Beatrice “Bebe” Vio, was expected to easily defend her title in the women’s foil category B.
But the Italian, who uses prosthetic arms after having all four limbs amputated when she contracted meningitis at the age of 11, was beaten 15-9 by Xiao Rong of China in the semifinal, showing her deep displeasure afterwards.
Vio, 27, regained her composure and went on to win a bronze medal in the ornate surroundings of the Grand Palais.
She still has a chance to win gold at the Paris Games as part of Italy’s women’s foil team, which is seeking to improve on its silver medal from Tokyo. Italy starts its bid in the quarterfinals against the U.S. on Thursday.
In other sports, South Africa’s Donald Ramphadi and Lucas Sithole became the first athletes from Africa to win a Paralympic medal in wheelchair tennis.
They edged Brazil’s Leandro Pena and Mane Silva 6-2, 6-4, 10-8 in the quad doubles to win bronze.
There was more success for Africa, as Nigerian powerlifter Esther Nworgu claimed a surprise silver medal in the up to 41-kg category and said it felt “like heaven” after she feared she would have to sit out the competition after having dislocated her shoulder two days ago.
Nworgu, who lost the use of her legs as a child, only missed out on gold to defending champion Cui Zhe, who led a series of winning Chinese performances, including Guo Lingling’s world record of 123 kg to win the up to 45-kg class.
Nworgu, 21, was effectively lifting the bar with one arm due to the injury.
“I was so emotional because I never expected any medal from this competition, she told reporters.
“I had an injury two days ago and the doctors confirmed that I should not compete because it was critical.
“There is no adjective I can use to quantify my happiness right now.”
China surged ahead in the medals table on 62 golds with Great Britain second on 33 and the U.S. third with 25. The Netherlands has 16 golds and host nation France sits in fifth with 15.