Great Britain's Sarah Storey clinches 15th gold of her Paralympic career

Storey's 15th Paralympic title and Britain's first gold of Tokyo 2020  Sarah Storey was the other big moment of the day, clinching her third consecutive C5 3000m individual pursuit title to bring her total Paralympic medal haul to 15 golds.

She beat out her compatriot Crystal Lane-Wright in a all-British final.  "It's quite overwhelming. I don't know if it will sink in until I get home. I came here with a really solid plan of what I wanted to do and I've delivered it, so it kind of blows your mind a bit," Storey said.

Storey's win also broke the world record with three minutes 27.057 seconds, saying: "I knew I had it in me to go sub 3.30 (three minutes and 30 seconds).

"It's been a target of mine since I went 3.32 in London (2012 Paralympic Games). I knew I just needed the right day and the right preparation. And it's been an incredibly difficult preparation (for Tokyo) because it's so different to what I'm used to. I just had to call on all my experience for staying calm under the pressure.

"I'm just glad it's paid off. And it's not just a little bit under 3.30, it's 3.27, so I'm over the moon with the time."

Britain's most successful Paralympian, Storey now has five Paralympic gold medals Para track cycling - more than any other female track cyclist. The 43-year-old Briton also has five gold medals in each of road cycling and swimming to her name. In total she has a phenomenal 26 medals overall.

Despite successfully retaining her crown, Storey  was of the view that the young generation was fast catching up and competition is getting fierce.

"It's fantastic to see the event getting faster, and I just need to keep getting faster as well. So I just had to keep a cool head this morning and realise that this was the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle," said Storey, whose focus now shifts to the road, where she has the opportunity to complete a grand double. 

"I won the World championship in June so I'm in good shape. I just need to keep my head on and focus on the process and fingers crossed those races go well."