Paralympic cyclist Daphne Schrager described the “surreal” moment she hugged actor Jackie Chan after he presented her silver medal, saying she will celebrate her performance with coffee and a croissant.
Schrager secured Britain’s maiden podium place in France by clinching silver in the women’s C1-3 3000m individual pursuit on Thursday, finishing second to China’s Xiaomei Wang in the final.
Schrager, 23, who grew up on a farm in Wiltshire, said she “gave everything” in the final and was “immensely proud” of her performance, adding that coming second gives her the “fire” to win in the next Games.
Speaking about how she felt on the podium, Schrager said: “I promised myself I wouldn’t cry, and I did.
“It was such a surreal moment actually getting a medal in person, and I just couldn’t stop smiling and crying and I was like, ‘pull yourself together’.
“It’s just amazing, Jackie Chan just came down the corridor when we were waiting to go up for our medals.
“He was just like ‘hi guys, I’ll be presenting your medals’, and I was like, ‘oh my gosh, Jackie Chan’.
“On the podium when I started crying, giving him a hug, and I was like, ‘I better let go, because I’m not sure you’re really meant to be hugging me right now’, but that’s what happened.”
Schrager, who has cerebral palsy, only joined the British cycling programme in 2019, having never previously ridden.
She set a C2 world record of 3:45.133 in qualifying before clocking 3:51.129 in the final, just under 10 seconds slower than Wang.
Schrager said the younger version of herself would have been amazed by her success in cycling given the “odds” she started out with.
She went on: “I strongly believe that anything is generally possible at this point.
“And just keep believing in yourself and back yourself and it might not happen right away, but if you have faith in the process and what you’re capable of doing and making your childhood dreams come true, then keep persevering, because a day like yesterday doesn’t come around very often.”
Asked how she will celebrate the performance, Schrager replied: “I think for me, spending some time with my parents, go and get a good cup of coffee, gluten-free croissant, and then be a good teammate and go and support the rest of the cycling that’s happening today and hopefully celebrate their success that I’ve started.
“Hopefully I’ll just ride this high and then reset for the road.”
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