Caroline Groot of the Netherlands rode to victory to earn herself the first gold medal at this year's Paralympic Games on Thursday in the women's para cycling track C4-5 500 metres time trial.

The seven-time world champion finished the race in 35.566 seconds at the National Velodrome in Paris, over a second faster than silver medallist Marie Patouillet of France.

The 26-year-old Dutch had broken the World and Paralympic record earlier in the day with a time of 35.390 seconds.

The French cyclist finished in 36.700 seconds, while Canadian Kate O'Brien completed the podium with 36.873 seconds.

The world record holder of the C4 category in this event, Kadeena Cox of Great Britain, fell off her bike early on, and could not finish the race.

The C4-5 class is for cyclists who have impairments affecting their legs, arms, and/or trunk, but still have the capability to use a standard bike.