9 months ago

Butterworth was confirmed in the line-up after trials with Beijing gold medalist Jody Cundy last week. He will now compete in five events at his first Games.

Team performance manager, Gareth Sheppard said: “It was a very difficult decision to choose between Jon and Jody. There is literally nothing separating the two athletes and they have both laid down some very impressive performances as man 3. But it's a decision we had to make after the UCI reduced the number of points you could use to select the team prior to the 2012 track world championships. That said, we have selected an incredibly strong team with Darren, Rik and Jon, and we hope to put up a strong challenge to the Chinese World Champions.”

The UCI brought in the new rule last year, taking the team sprint from 11 points to 10 points. A C5/4 rider like Cundy or Butterworth is 4 points and a C3 rider like Rik or Darren is 3 points. That meant it was a straight decision between the two world record holders. In previous championships both could have been selected.

The GB Para-cyclists will begin competition at the Paralympics on 30th August.