Dame Sarah Storey wins 18th Paralympic gold medal

Dame Sarah Storey has further solidified her position as the most accomplished Paralympian from Britain.

She came in first place in the women's C5 time trial and earned her 18th gold medal at the Paralympic Games.

Dame Storey has now won gold for the fifth consecutive time at the Paralympics.

This means that she has now earned a total of 13 gold medals in cycling at the Paralympics, in addition to the five she won in swimming.

Storey finished the race in just 20 minutes and 22.15 seconds, putting her ahead of her competitors by over four seconds.

At first, she was behind the leader by over seven seconds, but she came back strong in the last part of the race to keep her championship title.

Following the competition, she expressed her extreme happiness and joy at winning the gold medal.

"I am thrilled and delighted. However, I am aware that there are always opportunities for enhancements," Storey stated.

Yet, she was disappointed by the limited length of the race.

The men's competition for C5 involves covering twice the distance, which includes completing two laps of the course.

She said: "It's disappointing that the Paralympic time trial is so short this year. It doesn't give us the opportunity to fully display parasport in the way we would like."

She expressed her hope that women would not be subjected to such treatment again as it has been shocking.

Dame Storey has been victorious in the C5 time trial event at every Paralympic Games she has participated in since she started cycling in 2008.

And there may be even better news on the horizon for her, as she still has another event to anticipate at the Games.

She aims to defend her championship and secure her 19th gold medal in the C4-5 road race on Friday.

Dame Sarah Storey is competing in her ninth Games, which is a record for a British athlete.

The 46-year-old athlete has only achieved gold medals since starting her Paralympic cycling career at the Beijing 2008 Games.

Yet, there have been times when she was not spotted riding a bicycle.

She began her professional journey as a swimmer and participated in her first Paralympic event at the 1992 Games in Barcelona.

At the young age of 14, she won two gold medals, three silver medals, and a bronze medal!

After participating in swimming at the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Paralympics and securing an additional 10 medals, Dame Storey made the decision to transition to cycling.

From that time, she has earned thirteen gold medals in the sport, increasing her overall Paralympic medal count to 29.