MEL PEMBLE SET A NEW RECORD AT THE PARIS 2024 PARALYMPIC GAMES

Paris, France (Aug. 31, 2024) – Mel Pemble of Victoria, British Columbia, set a new world record in the women’s C3 category in the 500-meter time trial during her participation in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on August 31. She finished the competition in fourth place.

With a time of 38.512 seconds in qualifying, Mel Pemble took the world record in her category, as she competed in the combined C1-3 women’s category. The previous world record, set by Australia’s Aniek Van Den Aarssen in 2022, was 39.093 seconds.

“It’s pretty cool to come here and realize I’m at my second Games,” said Pemble. “It felt more real coming into these Games with medal potential.” She added, “The world record is going to make that fourth place sting a little less in the end, but I think it’s going to take a little while for me to get over that. I’m very happy with my times, I got a personal best by a second which is more than could hope for, but it would have been amazing to win a medal, it just wasn’t in the cards this year.”

In the finals, Pemble stopped the clock after 38.610 seconds, just 0.3 seconds from the bronze medal won by Germany’s Maike Hausberger (WC2). China’s Wangwei Qian (WC1) took silver, while Australia’s Amanda Reid (WC2) took top honors, with a factorized time of 36.676 seconds.

Pemble, who competed in para-alpine skiing at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, was participating in her first Summer Games.

Photo Credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com

Further information, including results and the full schedule of Paralympic Games events, is available on the official Paris 2024 website, while para-cycling athletes will take part in road events from Sept. 4.