SEPTEMBER 9 - LEE PEARSON (pictured) maintained his unbeaten run at the Paralympics and the British equestrian team collected a fourth consectutive gold medal by an impressive margin in Hong Kong tonight.

 

It took Britain's total of medals for the day to an incredible 19, nine of them gold, and left them challenging China for the top spot in the overall medals table.

 

Britain now have 16 gold medals, the same as the host nation, and are in second place with a total of 34, having also won 11 silver and seven bronze.

 

China are ranked top having won a total of 53 medals, 21 of them silver and 16 bronze.

 

Pearson has now won eight Paralympic gold medals as he added the 2008 individual and team titles to the three golds he won in each of the Games in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004.

 

Pearson said: “It’s crazy to have 100 per cent success at the Paralympics on three different horses.

 

“It’ll take time for this to sink in, but hopefully it’ll change my life as it shows I’m definitely not a flash in the pan.”

 

The 34-year-old Staffordshire-based Pearson added the team gold and the grade 1b individual gold to his previous haul with a score of 73.24 per cent.

 

He will be hoping to make it nine in the freestyle competition on Thursday.

 

Pearson said: “On an inexperienced horse I couldn’t ask for any more.

 

“For a young horse in a big atmosphere I’m very pleased.”

 

Earlier this year Pearson retired his exceptional horse Blue Circle Boy from competition, a horse he had partnered to win numerous titles.

 

He only began to work with Gentleman in January this year, demonstrating skill and dedication to reach this level in such a short space of time.

 

Pearson paid tribute to everyone who had supported him through the “tough” last year.

 

Pearson’s performance also sealed the team medal for the fourth time, a title the team have held since the equestrian events were introduced to the Paralympics Games at Atlanta in 1996.

 

Britain showed just how good they are by winning the team medal by a huge 26-point margin over second-placed Germany.

 

Shropshire-based Ricky Balshaw made his Paralympic debut in the same grade as Pearson and cites him as one of his inspirations.

 

He put in a solid performance to score 68.86 per cent and finish in fifth place.

 

Balshaw said: “I’ve been having a few problems in training which didn’t show up tonight.

 

“I’m really excited about the freestyle.

 

"I really enjoyed myself and had great fun.

 

"I’ve learnt that I can be a little braver with the horse as he was full of energy and wasn’t fazed by the atmosphere.”

 

In the grade III test earlier in the evening luck was not with British riders Debbie Criddle and Simon Laurens as both their horses reacted to the atmosphere in the imposing arena to keep them out of the medals on this occasion.

 

Earlier in the evening Anne Dunham and Sophie Christiansen picked up gold and silver respectively in the grade 1a individual championship test.

 

Together with Pearson and Laurens they also collect the team medal taking the equestrian tally to four, including three gold and one silver.