Mark Colbourne has achieved what would have been thought impossible three years ago after breaking his back in a paragliding accident; winning a Paralympic silver medal in the C1-2-3 1km Time Trial, setting a new personal best time and gaining Great Britain¹s first medal of the London 2012 Paralympic Games!
Mark was the penultimate rider to take to the boards for the C1-2-3 'kilo', and despite the pressure of it being his first Paralympic event he looked every inch the focussed, determined athlete ready to give it his all. He looked the epitome of calm as he took to the starting block and certainly didn¹t disappoint the crowd as he rode a very fast kilometre, finishing with a factored time of 1.08.471 in second place. Li Zhang Yu of China won gold with a C1 world record of 1.05.021.
Despite knowing he was guaranteed a place on the podium, he still had the nerve-wracking wait for final rider Rodrigo Fernandez Lopez from Argentina to race before he knew whether he had won a silver or a bronze Paralympic medal on home soil.
Lopez started well but finished with a time of 1.10.689 seconds, confirming Mark¹s hopes of securing his first ever Paralympic silver medal in front of a home crowd. His elation didn¹t stop there, as shortly after finishing he was told he¹d not only beaten his personal best time for the kilometre, but he had also won Great Britain¹s first Paralympic medal of the games so far!
Speaking after his silver-medal win, Mark recalls how he felt after his paragliding accident in 2009, "I didn't even know if I would ever walk again due to the damage that had been caused to my spine. It was a very slow and worrying time for me and my family"
"We have worked for the last eight months towards this and big thanks to all the coaches who got me in the best shape possible. I'm very happy"
The silver medal has certainly given him the belief that he can go for gold in C1 3k Pursuit tomorrow.
