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Paralympic champions Paige Greco and Darren Hicks have got Australia off to a flying start at the Cycling World Championships, while Jessica Gallagher and pilot Caitlin Ward came within a blink of capturing gold on an eventful Day 1 at Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow.
Greco’s bronze in the Women’s C3 Individual Pursuit was particularly sweet after her major crash at an event in Italy in April had left her on the verge of quitting the sport.
“It feels really special to win the first medal of the championships,” said Greco, who clocked 3:56.929 over the 3000 metres.
“It feels great to be back competing for medals and getting on the podium after crashing early this year at a Road World Cup. I wouldn’t be here without my awesome support team around me.”
Paige Greco was so badly shaken after suffering frightening injuries in a high-speed racing accident earlier this year, she considered quitting #ParaCycling.
— AUS Paralympic Team (@AUSParalympics) July 22, 2023
We caught up with Paige as she gets set to return for the upcoming World Champs: https://t.co/lBGobqWiE9@AusCycling pic.twitter.com/gvjpHXLanh
Hicks was caught by French rival Alexandre Leaute in the deciding race of the Men’s C2 Individual Pursuit to finish with a silver medal after he had posted an Australian record 3:33.186 in qualifying.
“I haven’t ridden very well for probably two years on the track, so to actually get the ride far better than we planned was why we were so over the moon,” said Hicks, who won gold on the road at Tokyo 2020 and silver at the track.
“Point-two off a PB is not huge, but it’s a step in the right direction again to show myself and the whole team that I’m still capable of what I was in 2019 and 2020, and looking forward to 2024.”
Gallagher and Ward came agonisingly close to winning the Women’s B 1km Time Trial, but were pipped by just 0.06 seconds by home crowd favourites Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl from Great Britain.
“It hurts a lot. Six one-hundredths of a second over one kilometre. It’s a brutal event, but to win silver and lose gold by six one-hundredths hurts a lot,” Gallagher said.
“Six one-hundredths of a second is nothing, essentially. Bittersweet; we’re very proud of silver, but you can’t deny that we would’ve liked to have been six one-hundredths of a second the other side of the fence.”
Sometimes life throws all of the emotions at you at the same time!
— Jessica Gallagher (@JessGallagher86) August 3, 2023
I'm incredibly proud to have won World Champs 🥈 with @caitlinward37 tonight & in the same breath when there was only 0.06s to 🥇 it was a tough one. Next up sprint this weekend!@AusCyclingTeam
📸 @swpix_cycling pic.twitter.com/6GPSaJSYUv
By David Sygall, Paralympics Australia and AusCycling
Image: Casey B. Gibson
