HALESOWEN Cycling Club’s Helen Scott won her second Paralympic medal after a thrilling race for bronze in the three kilometre tandem pursuit.

Scott and her team-mate Aileen McGlynn pipped fellow British duo Lora Turnham and Fiona Duncan, adding bronze to the silver they won in Friday’s 1km time trial.

Earlier they had been denied a place in the gold medal final thanks to a stunning world record performance from New Zealand’s Phillipa Gray and Laura Thompson.

The Kiwi duo went on to beat Ireland’s Catherine Walsh and Francine Meehan in the final.

Bronze may not have been the colour of medal Scott, who is the able-bodied for pilot for partially-sighted McGlynn, had desired at the start of the day but the manner of their success will have made it very satisfying.

They were pushed all the way by Turnham and Duncan, who had the edge over the first two kilometres.

But gradually Scott and McGlynn began to claw their way back and a strong finish saw them clock a time of three minutes 40.138 seconds, eventually winning by just over a second.

The former Earls pupil had revealed in the build-up to the Games how she and McGlynn had dedicated most of their efforts to the time trial and speaking after the event, the latter revealed the pair had done no serious pursuit training since May. 

Scott admitted it meant today's success had come as an added bonus.

She said: “This has just been the icing on the cake.

“Both of us wanted gold but we have given it our best this week, we really had to fight for it today, it was a great battle out there against our girls.

“They pushed us all the way.”

Scott and McGlynn had set a new personal best in this morning’s qualifying but were shut out of the race for gold thanks to an extraordinary and unexpected performance from Gray and Thompson.

The Kiwi duo shaved an incredible seven seconds off their previous best and five off the previous world standard to set a time of 3.31.530.

Walsh and Meehan, the world champions, also went faster than the British pair but could find no answer to the Gray and Thompson who proved their earlier effort was no fluke to take gold in the final.