The team's tally of six golds, two silvers and two bronze medals underlined Great Britain's total domination of the day's events on what was an enthralling day of track cycling at the Manchester Velodrome. Darren Kenny in particular shone for Great Britain as he added double World Cup gold to the four golds and silver he won at last summer's Paralympic Games.

He led compatriots Rik Waddon and Simon Richardson home in a British one-two-three in the 1km time trial for LC3, LC4 and CP3 before bringing the day's proceedings to a close in the best possible fashion by seeing off Japanese cyclist Ishii Masahi in the CP3 3km pursuit final.

The 39-year-old was understandably delighted with his success saying: “I'm pleased with my performance; it's all gone pretty much to plan. I've not done a lot of specific track work ahead of the competition but I knew I'd perform, just maybe not to what I achieved today so it's good.

“The BT Paralympic World Cup is a really great stepping stone opportunity for us and the first international focus of the year. I'm hoping there will soon be a series of World Cup events around the world and this event is certainly the forerunner for that in the next couple of the years.”

Jody Cundy got Great Britain off to a flying start, storming to victory in the men's LC1/LC2/CP4 1km time trial ahead of fellow Brit Mark Bristow who claimed bronze in a new LC1 world record time of 1:08.757 and Masashi Ishii of Japan, whose silver also broke the world record for CP4.

The Brit's were again victorious in the women's B/V1 1km time trial in the shape of Aileen McGlynn and Vicky Blegg, while in the men's event, Simon Jackson and Barney Storey edged out newcomers Neil Fachie and David Readle in a time of 1:04.029.

Jackson, a judo gold medallist at the 2004 Athens Paralympics, hopes he can use this success as a springboard to fulfilling his dream of becoming a dual sport Paralympic gold medallist.

“It's feels fantastic to win the world title here. I left my job in January to go full time and commit myself to another sport having retired from judo in 2005, and the rewards are now there to see.

“I train here every day in Manchester and all the other Paralympians that I train with have got gold medals. I've always felt a bit left out so it feels good now to have that gold medal draped around my neck. What I've done today and hopefully what I'm going to do tomorrow (in the men's sprint) is going to put me on the road to 2012.”

Great Britain's sixth gold came through Sarah Storey in the women's 500m LCI/L2/CP4 time trial, while Jennifer Schuble of the United States broke the CP4 world record to secure the silver medal.

In the day's other races, New Zealander Paula Tesoriero won the women's LC3/LC4/CP3 time trial, while Germany's Jiri Jezek claimed victory in the men's LC/LC2 4km pursuit.

Day two at the BT Paralympic World Cup saw unbelievably close matches in the wheelchair basketball with Australia and the Netherlands being the dominant force throughout the day. The crowds watching saw the Netherlands women's team win their only match of the day against the GB team, whilst the impressive men's squad of Australia won both of their matches.

Bill Latham, a strong force in the Australian men's squad, summarised their last match of the day against USA, “It was a really good match with a great team effort, and we're pleased with how we played the game out there on the second day.”
Great Britain put in two solid performances, with both squads losing by the incredibly small margin of just one point after late surges from the opposing teams of Germany (Men) and Netherlands (Women) in the fourth and final quarter.

Roos Oosterbaan of the Netherlands team commented, “it was a really nerve-racking match with every point being really important, we will be aiming to win by more in the next match."

The BT Paralympic World Cup is the first major multi-sport elite disability event to be staged in the UK ahead of London 2012 and major international stars and a strong British contingent are expected.

The competition is staged in Manchester from 20-25 May, with over 400 competitors from over 31 countries scheduled to compete.

Athletes compete in four sports at world class competition venues in Manchester: wheelchair basketball and athletics hosted at the Manchester Regional Arena, swimming at the Manchester Aquatics Centre and track cycling at the Manchester Velodrome.

Tickets for the BT Paralympic World Cup are now still sale and can be purchased via the event website: www.btparalympicworldcup.com or the ParalympicsGB website: www.paralympics.org.uk or by calling 0844 847 1622. Tickets cost £3 per session.

BT is the title sponsor of the Paralympic World Cup; the sponsorship runs up to and includes the 2012 BT Paralympic World Cup. The official 2009 stakeholders of the BT Paralympic World Cup are the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Manchester City Council and UK Sport. The BT Paralympic World Cup is held in association with ParalympicsGB and sanctioned by the IPC, the UCI and IWBF.

The BBC, the official televised partner to the event, will broadcast live from the Manchester Aquatics Centre on Monday 25 May 2009 on BBC Television. Rights free images from the BT Paralympic World Cup can be downloaded from Action Images: www.actionimages.com. 

Radio stations can obtain regular audio direct from the BT Paralympic World Cup from Made in Manchester: paul@madeinmanchester.com or russell@madeinmanchester.com.