Despite a one-hour delay due to heavy surface flooding caused by torrential rain and a decision to subsequently reduce the race distance by a lap, the 37-year-old US-based Porirua-raised handcyclist remained calm and composed to complete the 42.6km distance in 1hr 40min 34sec and produce his best ever result at a Paralympic Games.
A proud Mead said: "It was probably the wettest ride I’ve ever done, so we had to come up with a bit of Kiwi ingenuity and put plastic bags on my hands to keep dry. In the moment when I was told the race was delayed by an hour, I was not too happy but looking back I’m glad they did because the weather did start to lift. While I was also a fan of the reduced distance because it was cold out there.
"I quickly found myself alone in the race and then it was just a matter of survival. Then I just tapped into all the training I’d done all year and rode the race to the finish line."
There was disappointment for all three New Zealand Para swimmers in action at the Paris La Defense yesterday as the trio missed out on a place in their respective finals.
Tupou Neiufi, the Tokyo 2020 women’s backstroke S8 champion, was devastated to miss out on the final of that event in the defence of her title earlier on the programme at Paris 2024.
Seeking a spot in the medal race of the women’s 50m freestyle, Neiufi faded to sixth, recording a time of 33.40sec behind heat winner Alice Tai (30.52sec) of Great Britain. The 10th fastest across both heats, the 23-year-old Aucklander missed out on a place in the medal race in her final event at Paris 2024.
Christchurch-based duo Gabriella Smith and Lili-Fox Mason both lined up in the women’s 400m freestyle S10 but found a place in the final beyond them on this occasion.
The 19-year-old Mason was sixth in a time of 5min 00.42sec - a little under 2.5sec shy of her personal best, while 18-year-old Smith, the youngest member of the NZ Paralympic team in Paris, finished sixth in heat two, registering a time of 5min 02.31sec.
While Smith was the youngest performer for the New Zealand team at Paris 2024, the oldest member, 62-year-old Greg Reid, competed in qualification for the R6 mixed 50m rifle prone SH1. The Featherston-based athlete did not have his best competition - placing 36th with a total score of 600.6pts and did not progress to the eight-strong final.
