Britain claimed three gold medals in track cycling on Wednesday in the Paralympic Games, solidifying its No. 2 spot behind China in the medal table. The results pushed Britain to 12 gold medals in cycling, far above any other team. China leads the medal table with 24 gold and 77 overall. Britain has 21 gold and 43 overall medals, followed by the United States with 15 and 34. Britain's Sarah Storey won the individual pursuit cycling race for her disability class, the other class going to American Barbara Buchan. Britain won two other medals in cycling, taking both men's team races. Anthony Kappes, Barney Storey and Ben Demery won the men's sprint final, and Darren Kenny, Mark Bristow and Jody Cundy took the men's team sprint. Forty-six medal events were contested Wednesday - the fourth day of the Beijing Paralympics - with 17 in track and field leading the way. Without stars like sprinter Oscar Pistorius - “The Blade Runner” - contesting for gold on Wednesday, medals were spread all around. The same was true for swimming without South African star Natalie Du Toit racing for gold. Of the 12 medal events in swimming, Russia, Britain and the United States won two gold medals each. The other golds went to South Africa, New Zealand, Greece, Ukraine, Canada and Australia. Away from the venues, German wheelchair basketball player Ahmet Coskun was sent home from the Paralympic Games after failing a pre-games doping test. German officials said Coskun's urine test on Aug. 23 showed the presence of the banned substance Finasteride. The substance is used as a treatment for baldness, but also can mask the use of steroids.
