Reading resident and Afghanistan veteran wins gold at Paralympics

Former soldier and Afghanistan veteran Jaco van Gass has secured Great Britain's second gold medal of the Tokyo Paralympics.

The cyclist, who lives in Reading, beat fellow British rider Fin Graham in the final of the men's C3 3-thousand metres individual pursuit.

Van Gass powered through the heats in his event, crossing the finish line in an unprecedented time of 3:17.593.

The South African-born rider - a Paralympic debutant - sliced more than nine seconds off the long-standing record of Russian Alexey Obydennov, held since April 2014.

Team-mate Graham was second fastest in C3 qualifying - posting a time of 3:19.780, which was briefly the world record - guaranteeing GB a further two medals on the track when the pair go head-to-head later on Thursday.

Van Gass was injured in Afghanistan in 2009. British Cycling's website describes how it happened: "After completing his training, he joined the Parachute Regiment, and was deployed to Afghanistan.

"It was during his second tour of the country in 2009 that he sustained life-changing injuries, losing his left arm below the elbow after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and eventually requiring 11 surgeries."

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