Jaco van Gass bounces back from time trial disappointment to bag second gold of Paris 2024

Jaco van Gass overcame time trial disappointment to make it two gold medals in the velodrome at Paris 2024.

The 38-year-old teamed up with Kadeena Cox and Jody Cundy to successfully defend their mixed team sprint title from Tokyo in a time of 47.738s, beating Spain by almost two seconds.

Van Gass had stormed to individual pursuit gold earlier in the week before a disappointing result in the time trial saw him finish fourth despite setting two world records.

It was a result he was left questioning, with the factored timing system in place during the men's C1-3 event meaning he was unable to reach the podium. But after taking a second gold, Van Gass revealed that it was almost worth the disappointment to be crowned Paralympic champion once more.

"I rode two world records and didn't get a medal and it was hard to see what I could take away from it," said Van Gass, who is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – which has been vital on their pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.

"It wasn't until I got back and went to bed that it really sinks in and I started to feel disappointed and a bit sad.

"So coming into today, I just wanted to empty the legs and give it my all. Having this medal around my neck makes up for that."

Cox set the marker on the track, leading the trio out of the gate and producing a bolter of a first lap to give them the lead before handing over to Van Gass.

And despite the cyclist admitting that there were a couple of cobwebs he wanted to shake off after the qualification round, he stormed round the track before Cundy crossed the line in a