Tokyo Paralympics: Darren Hicks and James Turner win as Australians bag a swag of medals early on day seven

Cyclist Darren Hicks’ and sprinter James Turner’s gold medals have capped a productive morning for Australians as Tokyo, with the Aussie team winning eight medals on day seven.

Hicks got the ball rolling as he produced a dominant performance in the men’s C2 time trial, taking out the 24km race in a time of 34:39.78.

The Australian finished more than 90 seconds ahead of silver medallist Ewoud Vromant, the Belgian whose disqualification in the C2 3000m pursuit last week paved the way for Hicks to win silver in that event.

An emotional Hicks told Channel Seven his warm up had been “perfect” and he had executed his race plan to perfection.

“I’ll be excited later on, but for now it’s just relief. I’ve worked so hard for this and I’ve wanted it for so long. I’m just so happy,” he said.

His efforts were matched by Turner in the 400m T36, who set a Paralympic record on his way to the gold medal, finishing in a time of 52.80 seconds.

Turner blitzed the rest of the field as he established a big lead before coolly running home to add to the gold he won in the 800m T36 in Rio.

There was further joy for Australians in the cycling time trial events, with two silver and three bronze medals falling their way.

C4 3000m pursuit gold medalist Emily Petricola continued her good run of form by claiming a silver medal in the women’s C4 time trial with a time 39:43.09.

Petricola finished just 10 seconds behind American Shawn Morelli, and she was joined on the podium by fellow Aussie Meg Lemon, who finished with a bronze medal after clocking 41:14.42.

Carol Cooke added a silver medal after finishing the C2 time trial in a time of 36:38.46.

Almost a week after her gold medal exploits in the C1-3 pursuit, Paige Greco settled for bronze in the C1-3 time trial to add to the Australian medal haul.

Alistair Donohoe then grabbed a bronze in the C5 time trial, finishing strongly to ensure he did not miss a place on the podium.

Meanwhile, on the athletics track, Jaryd Clifford claimed his second medal of the games after finishing third in the 1500m T13.

The world record holder started well in the final and maintained a steady pace throughout and while he kept in touch with Tunisian Rouay Jebabli throughout the final lap, the pair were overtaken by Russian Anton Kuliatin in the last 200m.

The 22 year-old told Channel Seven he was stoked to add a bronze to the silver he had already won in the 5000m T13, but hoped he would one day complete the set.

“A bronze medal, I’m super happy with in that field. I take a lot of heart from stories like (gold medalist) Madison di Rozario, took her four games and she nailed it, it was so special to see,” he said.

“(Sprinter) Scotty Reardon told me sometimes a silver, a minor medal, is what it will take to one day win a gold, and I think I’m learning a lot this year.”

Fellow Australian Sam Harding kept with the pack as long as he could, eventually finishing eleventh.