jenny holl, a cyclist, lifts her arms aloft on her bike after winning gold in paris

Great Britain's Sophie Unwin and pilot Jenny Holl celebrate winning gold in the Women's B Road Race. Image provided by PA / Alamy.

Lakatos and Holl take Loughborough to 15 Paralympic medals

Loughborough-linked athletes have now won 15 medals at the 2024 Paralympic Games following two more glorious golds in Paris.

University-based Brent Lakatos took a dominant win in the Men’s 800m T53 to add to his silver in the 400m T53 earlier this week.

The Canada athlete clocked a season’s best 1:37.32 to top the podium as Thailand’s Pongsakorn Paeyo came second (1:38.26) and American Brian Siemann crossed the line in third (1:38.44).

Elsewhere, Loughborough Lightning Cycling rider Jenny Holl piloted visually impaired Sophie Unwin to a dramatic gold in the Women’s B road race.

Sitting patiently on Ireland’s Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly’s tails, Holl and Unwin made their move in the final 500m to sprint home in classy style.

It’s the duo's incredible fourth medal of the Games, adding to their gold, silver, and bronze from earlier in the competition.  

Unwin said: "I'm always emotional, I was surprised it has taken me this long to cry like that. It just feels amazing. Jenny was incredible, she rode that race perfectly and it just feels amazing to win it.

"It's easy to say we win medals all the time and therefore it is easy, but Jenny has been there for me at some pretty bad times over the past few years.

“A couple of years ago, I was sleeping on her sofa for a week because I had nowhere else to go. She's been there through a lot for me. I definitely haven't always been the easiest person to train with, share a room with, race with."

Holl added: "I think the main thing for us is we both know all the time that each of us is working as hard as we possibly can so we have that trust and it's really nice to see it show in a set of medals at a Games.”

For all the latest Loughborough news around major global sporting events, visit the University’s dedicated website here: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/sport/athletes-global-stage/

Join the conversation on social media with the hashtag #Lboro2Paris

 

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 24/156

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines. 

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme and named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2024 QS World University Rankings – the eighth year running. 

Loughborough is ranked 6th in The UK Complete University Guide 2025, 10th in the Guardian University League Table 2024 and 10th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024. 

Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’, and in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 over 90% of its research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes. 

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking. 

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