News: Big day arrives for Jody Cundy and Mark Colbourne

Ahead of the opening ceremony this evening, Jody Cundy and Mark Colbourne are excited and focused on achieving Paralympic dreams

Jody Cundy

Ahead of the opening ceremony this evening, Jody is more excited and focussed than ever at the prospect of achieving his Paralympic dreams. Jody’s first event will be the 1km Time Trial on Friday and he’s eager to jump on the velodrome boards.

“I’m in great form at the moment and I can’t wait to get out there and race in front of a home crowd! The support has been incredible so far and I think London 2012 will provide an opportunity for the public to really appreciate Paralympic sport, as we train just as hard and put just as much effort in as the Olympic team. It’s fantastic to see everyone really getting behind ParalympicsGB, it really means a lot.”

The London 2012 Paralympic opening ceremony will begin this evening at 8:30pm, but the decision to attend is made by both the athletes and their coaches depending upon their racing schedule. “Of course it would be great to attend, but I’ve only ever been to one opening ceremony before, which was in Atlanta, as it’s also important to prepare correctly for your competition and sometimes that means you miss out on things. That’s something we are used to as athletes.”

Jody Cundy MBE (Cycling, Track):
31/08/12 – C4/C5 1km Time Trial Final
01/09/12 – C4 4km Pursuit Qualification in the morning and Final in the afternoon if qualified
(02/09/12 – C1-5 Mixed Team Sprint Qualification in the morning and Final in the afternoon if qualified. Please note that Jody is currently reserve rider)

Mark Colbourne (Cycling, Track and Road)
Ahead of his first competition at a Paralympic Games, Mark said “It has been a tough journey from breaking my back to becoming a Paralympian and I’ve been training really hard to reach this point. Competing at a home Paralympic Games is the pinnacle of every athlete’s career and I am over the moon to be here”

And although London will be his first Paralympics, Mark is confident about his current form “I’m aiming for two gold medals at least!”

Mark is set to race in the C1 1km Time Trial on Thursday afternoon, and is sure that the public will be backing ParalympicsGB all the way. “The British Paralympic team has been hugely successful winning 42 gold medals in Beijing, second on the medal table, but with the support of the whole of Britain, we’ll aim to beat that. I can’t wait to see the British public support the British Paralympic team as much as they have got behind the Olympic team. It’s going to be truly special.”

30/08/12 – C1-3 1km Time Trial Final
31/08/12 – C1 4km Pursuit Qualification in the morning and Final in the afternoon if qualified
05/09/12 – C1 Road Time Trial
06/09/12 – C1–3 Road Race

Catch up with all the latest results via the JAC Sport website and follow @christinakelkel and @jodycundy on twitter for updates from track centre.