All-British final in sprint

Anthony Kappes, pictured, and Craig MacLean set a new world record in qualification for the men's tandem sprint

2 September 2012

Great Britain's tandem teams of Anthony Kappes and Craig MacLean and Neil Fachie and Barney Storey are on course to meet in the Paralympic final of the sprint competition on the fourth and final day of track competition at the London 2012 velodrome.

Kappes, who is visually impaired, and his pilot MacLean had mechanical trouble at the start and did not finish the one-kilometre time-trial on day three as Fachie and Storey won gold in a world record time.

But on Sunday it was the turn of Kappes and MacLean to take their event to new margins, clocking 10.050 seconds over the flying 200metres to qualify fastest of the seven teams for the knockout phase.

Due to the number of teams in the event, Kappes and MacLean were given a bye to the best-of-three semi-finals, where they were scheduled to meet Tatsuyuki Oshiro and Yasufumi Ito of Japan.

Fachie and Storey, who held the world record entering the event of 10.282secs, clocked 10.165 and were ranked second as they advanced to the quarter-finals, where they beat Argentina's Alberto Nattkemper and Jonatan Ithurrart 2-0.

A last-four clash with Jose Enrique Porto and Jose Antonio Villanueva of Spain awaited.

Darren Kenny, Rik Waddon and Jon-Allan Butterworth advanced to the final of the mixed C1-5 team sprint. The British trio clocked a world record of 49.808 in qualifying and were set to meet Ji Xiaofei, Liu Xinyang and Xie Hao in the final after the Chinese trio lowered the mark by 0.004secs to 49.804 in the next heat.

In the women's blind and visually impaired three-kilometres tandem pursuit, Aileen McGlynn and Helen Scott will meet fellow Britons Lora Turnham and Fiona Duncan in the race for bronze.

McGlynn and her pilot Scott clocked three minutes 36.930 seconds in qualification, with Turnham and her pilot Duncan finishing in 3mins 37.085secs.

World champions Catherine Walsh and Francine Meehan of Ireland clocked 3:36.453 to advance to the race for gold in second place behind New Zealand's Phillipa Gray and Laura Thompson, who set a world record of 3:31.530.