Simon Richardson of Great Britain looks unbeatable in the Men's Individual Pursuit (LC3) final Tuesday afternoon. The British rider set a new world and Paralympic record in the heats, taking nearly eight seconds off the previous world best set by Laurent Thirionet of France two years ago in Aigle, Switzerland.
Athens gold medalist Thirionet will be restricted to bronze if he wins the third place ride-off against Germany's Tobias Graf, who clocked a time three seconds faster than Thirionet's in the heats.
Graf set a new world record time but saw it beaten twice in 10 minutes, first by Fujita Masaki from Japan and then by Richardson. The latter pair now contest the gold medal, while Richardson aims to achieve the feat of taking a pair of Track Cycling gold medals, having already won the Men's 1km Time Trial (LC3-4) in a new world and Paralympic record time.
(BOCOG September 9, 2008)