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ParalympicsGB star Sarah Storey wins 18th career gold

Sarah Storey won her 18th Paralympic gold medal on Wednesday as she emerged triumphant in the women's road cycling C5 time trial.

She beat French home favourite Heidi Gaugain to retain the title she has won at every Paralympic Games since 2008.

It was 46-year-old Storey's 13th Paralympic gold medal in cycling, with the other five won in swimming. She overtook swimmer Mike Kenny's record of 16 Paralympic golds in the Tokyo.

After the event, Storey said that she was disappointed that the Paris Paralympics organisers had chosen to shorten the course for the women's C5 event to 14.1km, with the men's version, which takes place later on Wednesday, set to be double the distance.

"This is the shortest Paralympic time trial we've ever had," Storey said. "And I think it's a real shame because you don't get to showcase Para sport in the way that you want to. So I hope this is the only time it's less than 20km."

Asked if she knew why the decision was taken, she added: "You have to ask the organisers. But there's plenty of time in the day for us to do two laps like the men. And having fought so hard for parity in women's cycling, to not have it in Para cycling after what we had in Glasgow last year is a real disappointment.

"I've had to put that disappointment aside and just concentrate on what I can control because I couldn't control the race distance. But I really hope that they never do this to the women again because I think it's been appalling."

The win took Storey's total Paralympic medal tally to 29, with 16 being won in swimming between 1992-2004.

She could soon have the most gold medals of any active Paralympic athlete when she bids for her 19th gold in the road race on Friday.

Information from Reuters contributed to this report.