Fachie undecided on future after missing out on gold

Neil Fachie had disappointment oozing out of every pore in the almost-overwhelming heat of the Velodrome National in Paris, after coming up just short in his attempt to defend his Paralympic title.

Gold in the men’s B 1,000m time trial went to his Great Britain team-mates James Ball and pilot Steffan Lloyd, a duo that produced after years of chasing behind Fachie’s success.

It seemed a bamboozling conundrum for the Aberdonian to grasp in the heat of that moment. Not winning. Accepting silver rather than gold.

“Silver… it’s not bad, is it?” he said to BBC Scotland, almost as if trying to convince himself. “I need to remind myself it’s still pretty damn good.”

It is, of course. But you don’t achieve what Fachie has by settling for second.

“I just can’t seem to defend the Paralympic title,” he added.

“I’ve got an annoying ratio of gold, silver, gold, silver, which means maybe at 44 I’m going to have to come back and take the gold [in Los Angeles].

“It’s not easy any more and I’m not getting any younger. I still don’t know. I don’t want to look at a bike for a month or two and then I’ll have to see what happens.

“I will miss this dearly if I do walk away.

“Maybe the Commonwealth Games will happen in Glasgow in a couple of years and maybe I’ll try and be the most successful Scot of all time.

“That’s still something on the cards, but there’s a lot of boxes to tick before then.”

That decision is down the line but this was set up to be Fachie’s crowning glory – perhaps the culmination of an incredible haul that now includes five Paralympic medals.

A third gold lay in wait, and this chance, in the event where he still holds the world record, seemed one he would surely take.

“I’m obviously disappointed. I did come for gold,” Fachie added.

“With a lap and a half to go I could feel I was really struggling. I think I can walk away proud though. I know I couldn’t have done any more.”

One Scot who did achieve Paralympic gold in the velodrome was Jenny Holl, pilot for Sophie Unwin, in the women’s B 3,000m individual pursuit.

“It’s incredible,” Holl told BBC Scotland. “I’ve got so many family here and my friends, and it’s so great for them to have come out. To have them here just means so much.

“We had the World Champs in Glasgow last year and I had them all there so I knew what it was like to have them cheer in a crowd for me.

“That’s the all the edge we needed.”