LONDON — Former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi, who lost his legs after a horrific crash in 2001, enjoyed a golden finale to his “magical adventure” by winning the Paralympic men's individual H4 handcycling time trial Wednesday. At the Brands Hatch circuit, former host of the British Formula One Grand Prix, the 45-year-old Italian blitzed to gold over the 16-km course in 24 minutes, 50.22 seconds. Zanardi finished more than 27 seconds ahead of German Norbert Mosandl, with American Oscar Sanchez taking bronze. “This is a great accomplishment, one of the greatest of my life,” Zanardi said. “I worked very hard to get here. It was great to live such an experience at 45.” Zanardi had both legs amputated above the knee after crashing in the Champ Car series in 2001. Powered by the arms, a hand cycle has two coasting rear wheels and one steerable front wheel. But it was one of the highlights of a day that saw Britain's Sarah Storey clinch her third gold medal of the Games, taking the Paralympic women's individual C5 time-trial title after double success on the track. The 34-year-old rider won the C5 individual 3km pursuit in the Velodrome last week to open the host nation's gold account then followed up with victory in the C4/5 500m time-trial. But she said the hard work she has put in for the road events has paid off, as she again pushed Poland's Anna Harkowska into silver, just as she did on the track. The win boosted her overall Paralympic gold medal collection to 10. Storey, who was born without a functioning left hand, won five at swimming before switching to cycling before Beijing in 2008. In the equivalent men's race, Ukraine's Yegor Dementyev took gold in a confidence booster for Thursday's C4/5 individual road race, while Czech rider Jiri Jezek took revenge over Romania's Carol-Eduard Novak in the C4 time-trial. Novak had beaten defending champion Jezek in the C4 individual pursuit over 4km on the track. Jezek, who has now won four golds in four Games, said he was stunned and had expected the Romanian to win. In the men's individual C3 time-trial, David Nicholas added to Australia's cycling medal tally, while Germany's Tobias Graf and Michael Teuber struck gold in C2 and C1 class. Graf had already picked up a silver and bronze on the track. In the women's races, Megan Fisher of the US saw off a challenge from Australia's track gold medalist Susan Powell in the C4 time-trial, while compatriot Allison Jones took the C1-2-3 equivalent. Jones said the win more than made up for her experience in Beijing, where she was denied the gold because of time adjustments based on cyclists' impairments in the mixed classification race. In the men's individual time-trial for blind and visually impaired riders, Spain's Christian Venge, with pilot David Llaurado Caldero took gold, while Kathrin Goeken and Kim Van Dijk took the women's equivalent. The Paralympic Games' most decorated male athlete, Jonas Jacobsson of Sweden, Wednesday shot his way to the 17th gold of his career, taking the men's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 title in London. The 47-year-old has garnered 30 medals in nine Games since making his debut in 1980 in Arnhem, the Netherlands. In this edition, he has only collected silver in his four scheduled events. But he refound his gold-winning aim at the Royal Artillery Barracks, firing 10s all the way from his third shot to the end of the competition to successfully defend the title he won four years ago in Beijing. His 100.9 points was the highest of the session and left him with a total of 1,255.9. Doron Shaziri, of Israel, was second, wth Dong Cheo of China in third. Australia's Matthew Cowdrey, meanwhile, qualified fastest for the S9 men's 50m freestyle final, putting him on track for an 11th gold. The 24-year-old world record holder at the event won through to Wednesday night's final in the one-length sprint in 25.63sec. Annual festival An annual festival of disabled sport will take place in London's Olympic Park as part of a two-million-pound ($3.18-million) investment in a Paralympic legacy, it was announced Wednesday. The Paralympics end Sunday as Coldplay headline the closing ceremony that will bring down the curtain on the 11-day sporting spectacle. The London Legacy Development Corporation, who are responsible for the site which will be renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park after the Games, have pledged the money as part of a program that will also include helping disabled people to get jobs there. — Agencies
