A cycling couple enjoyed a double celebration after they both won gold at the Paralympics in Tokyo yesterday.
Neil Fachie raced to top spot on the podium in a new world record for the B 1000m time trial on the track in Tokyo.
Just 16 minutes later, the Scots velodrome star cheered on his wife Lora as she took gold for Team GB in the B 3,000m pursuit in another world record time.
She cried tears of joy as she embraced her husband after the medal ceremonies at the Izu Velodrome. The couple both have visual impairments and shared their successes with their sighted pilots Matt Rotherham and Corinne Hall.
‘Mind-blowing’
Aberdeen-born Neil, 37, described their double victory as mind-blowing as at previous Paralympics they have never both won gold.
He said: “There are days that are good in the relationship and there are days like today which we’ll never forget.
“We knew this day would be our big one. It was the same in Rio. Lora got the gold, I got the silver. Back in London, I got gold and Lora missed out.
“So finally we’ve managed to both do it together, and to both break the world record as well is beyond our dreams.”
Lora added: “It was great to see Neil go and do an absolutely cracking time.
“It’s a lot more stressful watching someone you care about racing than actually doing it yourself.”
Lora will compete again this week in two road races while Neil has finished all his events.
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