Dame Sarah Storey wins 18th Paralympic gold medal

Dame Sarah Storey has extended her record as the most successful British Paralympian.

She won the women's C5 time trial to claim her 18th gold Paralympic medal.

It was the fifth Paralympics in a row that Dame Storey has picked up gold at the event.

The result means that she has now claimed 13 Paralympic gold medals in cycling, with the other five won in swimming.

"I'm utterly delighted"

Storey completed the course in 20 minutes and 22.15 seconds, beating her rivals by more than four seconds.

She had originally trailed the leader by more than seven seconds, but stormed back in the final section to retain her title.

After the race, she said she was "utterly delighted" to scoop gold.

"I’m very happy. I am over the moon. But I know that there’s always ways to improve things," Storey said.

However, she expressed disappointment at the short distance of the race.

The men's C5 event is double the distance, comprising two laps of the same course.

She explained: "This is the shortest Paralympic time trial we’ve ever had and I think it’s a real shame because you don’t get to showcase parasport in the way that you want to."

"I hope they never do this to the women again, because it has been appalling," she added.

Dame Storey has won gold in the C5 time trial at every Paralympic Games since her cycling debut in 2008.

And there could be more good news for her, as she has one more event to look forward to at the Games.

She will look to keep her title and add a 19th gold in the C4-5 road race on Friday.

Who is Dame Sarah Storey?

Dame Sarah Storey is taking part in her ninth Games - the most ever for a British athlete.

The 46-year-old has only won gold since making her Paralympic cycling debut at Beijing 2008.

However, she hasn't always been seen on a bike.

She started her career as a swimmer and made her Paralympic debut at the 1992 Games in Barcelona.

She was just 14 years old and picked up two golds, three silvers and a bronze!

Dame Storey then competed in swimming for the next three Paralympics - in 1996, 2000 and 2004 - winning 10 more medals, before deciding to switch sports to cycling.

Since then, she has won thirteen gold medals in the sport, taking her total Paralympic medal tally to 29.