Equestrian events bring double gold for Britain

British riders claimed two gold medals when the equestrian contests at the Paralympic Games began in Athens yesterday, with Lee Pearson winning the Grade I dressage and Debbie Criddle victorious in Grade III.

British riders claimed two gold medals when the equestrian contests at the Paralympic Games began in Athens yesterday, with Lee Pearson winning the Grade I dressage and Debbie Criddle victorious in Grade III. Pearson, who had undergone 14 major operations by the age of five and is a gifted horseman, achieved an excellent score of 77.263 per cent to win by a substantial margin of 5.468 per cent on the dun gelding Blue Circle Boy.

Pearson, 30, looks on course to repeat his Sydney clean sweep of three gold medals when he contests tomorrow's Grade I Freestyle to Music and Sunday's Team Test. Criddle, 38, who won three golds at the 2003 World Championships in Belgium, is aiming for another golden haul with Figaro IX.

The bronze medal in Pearson's Grade I section (which is for the most severely handicapped riders) went to a British schoolgirl, 16-year-old Sophie Christiansen, riding Hotstuff. She will also reappear tomorrow, between today's individual dressage and Friday's Freestyle for riders in Grades II and IV.

Stephen Miller smashed the world record by over seven metres with a distance of 33.53m to take gold in the club throw yesterday. Britain's wheelchair rugby side defeated Germany 41-30, and the wheelchair basketball side beat France 75-43.