Paralympics 2012: Cyclist Mark Colbourne heads Welsh medals

Wales finished the London 2012 Paralympic Games with three gold medals thanks to Mark Colbourne, Aled Sion Davies and Josie Pearson.

Eleven Welsh athletes contributed to 14 medals, which matched the total won in Beijing four years ago.

Cyclist Colbourne was the Welsh star, winning the 3Km pursuit and claiming silver in both the C1-3 kilometre sprint and the C1 road time trial.

Wales had been set a target of exceeding the 14 medals won in 2008.

A record number of 38 athletes from Wales were selected for the Great Britain team to compete at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Davies won a gold medal in the F42 discus and bronze in the F42/44 shot put, while Pearson claimed Wales' third gold in the women's F51 discus.

Swimmer Nyree Kindred won one of Wales' three silver medal in the women's S6 backstroke.

Wales won seven bronze medals with Claire Williams and Beverley Jones winning the respective F11-12 and F37 classes in the discus.

Paul Davies won his in the Class 1 table tennis, while Sara Head was part of the GB women's team that did the same in the Class 1-3.

Liz Johnson picked up a bronze in the SB6 100m breastroke in the pool, while Rachel Morris won hers in the handcycling H1-3, and Olivia Breen & Jenny McLoughlin were part of the bronze medal-winning T35-38 4x100m relay team.

Nathan Stephens, who came into the Games as the world record holder and world champion, suffered the real heartache in the javelin.

The 24-year-old suffered two no-throws followed by a poor third attempt, which saw him finish outside the top eight in the final and so denied a further three throws.

The chair of Sport Wales, Professor Laura McAllister, praised the efforts of the Welsh contingent in the British team: "I must give congratulations to each and every athlete who has competed at the Games, their coaches and support staff.

"To compete at a Paralympics, and win medals, takes years of hard work and preparation.

"I am clear that this success at London, which has followed on from Beijing, cannot be allowed to be a one generation experience.

"We have set a benchmark for ourselves and the challenge is to maintain and build on it.

"The performances from our athletes have captured the hearts of the public and they have shown they are capable of beating the best athletes in the world."