Home Depot Center News

CARSON, Calif. - American riders collected three medals on the first day of the 2012 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships www.paracyclingla2012.com presented by Samsung at the Velo Sports Center at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The competition, also sponsored by The Hartford, crowned world champions Thursday in the three-kilometer pursuit, four-kilometer pursuit and 500-meter time trial.

Americans secured a pair of podium spots in the women's C5 time trial as Greta Neimanas (Chicago, Ill.) and Jennifer Schuble (Homewood, Ala.) registered times of 39.237 and 39.416, respectively, to earn the silver and bronze medals. The winner, Sarah Storey of Great Britain, earned the gold medal with a time of 37.371.

\"I'm so excited to finish second place today,\" Neimanas said. \"I don't know if I've ever been this excited to finish second before. Jenny Schuble was third rounding out the podium. We have two people in our class, so it's always fun to get both of us on the podium.\"

Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo.) posted a time of 45.112 to earn the bronze medal in the women's C2 500-meter time trial for the second consecutive year. Alijda Norbruis of the Netherlands collected the rainbow jersey with a time of world-record time of 43.101 while China's Yin He earned the silver medal after completing 500 meters in 43.843. Laura Sobchik (Fullerton, Calif.) placed sixth with a time of 47.490.

Australia's Jayme Paris covered 500 kilometers in 47.196 to win the women's C1 time trial. In the women's C3 contest, Simone Kennedy of Australia was nearly one second faster than silver medalist Denise Schindler from Germany to win the rainbow jersey. The women's C4 time trial saw Jianping Ruan from China break her own world record time of 39.040 as she finished in 38.974 to earn the gold medal. Australia's Susan Powell placed second with a time of 40.308 while Canada's Marie-Claude Molnar finished in 42.998 to earn the bronze medal.

In the visually impaired (B) competition, the duo from Ireland, Catherine Walsh and Francine Meehan, earned the gold medal after qualifying with the best time and defeating the British tandem of Aileen McGlynn and Helen Scott in the final. New Zealand's Phillipa Gray and Laura Thompson earned the bronze medal after finishing just over two seconds faster than Lora Turnham and Fiona Duncan in the race for third place. The American pair of Karissa Whitsell (Eugene, Ore.) and pilot Lisa Turnbull (Springfield, Ore.) qualified in ninth place with a time of 3:50.596.

In the men's B four-kilometer pursuit, the Australian duo of Bryce Lindores and Scott McPhee earned the gold medal after defeating the Irish pair of James Brown and Damien Shaw by more than three seconds in the final. Lindores and McPhee registered the best time in qualifying. The Canadian duo of Daniel Chalifour and Alexandre Cloutier overtook Spain's Miguel Angel Clemente Solano and Diego Javier Munoz Sanchez to secure the bronze medal. The American duo of Clark Rachfal (Annapolis, Md.) and Dave Swanson (Tucson, Ariz.) qualified in seventh place with a time of 4:37.525.

The competition continues Friday with the three and four-kilometer pursuit and one-kilometer time trial.

Complete competition results, race schedule and live streaming information can be found on the event's web page, www.paracyclingla2012.com.

For more information about U.S. Paralympics, its athletes or programs, visit usparalympics.org.