BRONZE Alert - Emma Foy & Laura Thompson Women's Road Race B

BRONZE Alert - Emma Foy & Laura Thompson Women's Road Race B

22 September 2016, 9:03AM
Paralympics New Zealand

New Zealand’s leading tandem pairing, Emma Foy & Laura Thompson (sighted pilot), have on Saturday won BRONZE in the road cycling Women's Race Race B in a time of 1:59.33, behind the tandems from Ireland and Poland, taking silver and gold respectively. The junior tandem pairing of Amanda Cameron and Hannah van Kampen finished in11th place in the same event.
 
Following a delayed start the Road Race was reduced to 70km from the usual 85km. This did not deter Foy & Thompson who broke away from the pack at the 50km mark and did not look back.
 
Foy & Thompson, who showed true guts and determination earlier this week to win SILVER in the Women’s B 3000m Individual Pursuit on the final day of racing at the Rio Velodrome. They will be ecstatic with their second medal. 27-year-old Foy, who only entered Para-Cycling three years ago, is the rookie of the pair, with Laura Thompson amongst one of the most experienced tandem pilots in the world. Thompson won a Gold, Silver and Bronze and broke a World Record at the London 2012 Paralympic Games with her former stoker, Phillipa Gray (now retired).


 
New Zealand’s newest tandem pairing of Amanda Cameron and Hannah van Kampen finished in 11th  place.  The rookie pair had an exceptional ride earlier this week in the Velodrome, qualifying for the final and competing in a ride-off for bronze that saw them finish in 4th overall. The pair only competed together for the first time in early 2016, surprising themselves by qualifying for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games with a 5th at the UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships. Cameron, the 28-year-old stoker from Wellington, was inspired to get involved in Para-Cycling after watching Phillipa Gray win the trifecta with Thompson at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
 
Foy & Thompson’s bronze medal today now means the New Zealand Paralympic Team have officially won 20 medals, exceeding the total medal target of 18 in Rio – 9 GOLD, 5 SILVER and 6 BRONZE. The Team have now at won at least one medal on every day of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. This takes New Zealand to 10th place on the medal table. During the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games the New Zealand Team have won medals across a variety of Para-Sports including Para-Athletics (3 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze), Para-Cycling (1 silver, 1 Bronze) and Para-Swimming (6 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze).
 
Find Emma Foy’s biography here and Laura Thompson’s here.
 
Find Amanda Cameron’s biography here and Hannah van Kampen’s here.
 
The 31-strong New Zealand Paralympic Games Team will compete at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games between 8-19 September 2016 NZT, with a mighty global contingent of 4,350 other athletes from 160 countries. The Paralympics is the world’s largest multi-sport event for disabled athletes. New Zealand will contest six Para-Sports, chasing a target of 18 medals in total, including 12 gold medals.


 
Where can kiwis watch our Paralympians in action?
 
Views can catch the New Zealand Paralympic Team in action at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games by tuning into DUKE on Freeview 13, Sky 23 or online at www.tvnz.co.nz/duke (find daily schedule here: www.tvnz.co.nz/paralympics2016/schedule), by watching the daily highlights programme on TV1 at 9.30pm, or by visiting www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand/paralympics or http://attitudelive.com/rio-2016-paralympics to watch on demand. Results will also be shown on ONE News, Breakfast and Seven Sharp. Additionally, coverage can be found by visiting the Paralympics website: www.paralympic.org.
 
In addition to this and as a result of huge public interest in New Zealand TVNZ has created a second live stream so you can choose between the coverage of DUKE or live Para-Swimming or Para-Athletics action:

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand/paralympics-swimming AND
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand/paralympics-athletics

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