03/09/2012
British cyclist Craig MacLean has become only the second person in history to win medals at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, after claiming gold in the tandem B sprint alongside Anthony Kappes at the London 2012 Paralympics.
MacLean was part of the British sprint team that won silver at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and follows Hungary’s Pál Szekeres in winning both an Olympic and Paralympic medal.
Fencer Szekeres won Olympic bronze in the team foil event in Seoul in 1988 before winning six Paralympic medals – including three golds – in wheelchair fencing between 1992 and 2008.
MacLean, who has also won nine World Championship medals, became a pilot for visually impaired cyclists after missing out on a place in the British team for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
The 41-year-old Scot piloted compatriot Neil Fachie to golds in the tandem B sprint and tandem B 1km time trial at the 2011 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships before he began working with Kappes, who won both the kilo and sprint events at the 2008 Paralympics.
MacLean and Kappes were the fastest qualifiers for Sunday’s tandem final after setting a world record of 10.05 seconds in the semi-final and claimed gold following a comfortable victory over British team-mates Fachie and Barney Storey.