Thieves steal Paralympic medallist's kit

Evans had to borrow a helmet to complete his first race

A competitor at the Cerebral Palsy World Games in Nottingham has won a gold medal despite having vital equipment stolen by thieves.

Tom Evans, a top cyclist, had parked his car at the University of Nottingham's Jubilee Campus, where all the athletes are staying.

He returned 30 minutes later to find two smashed windows and a bag containing specially-designed shoes, helmets and clothing missing.

The thieves had left his two specialist bicycles worth more than £10,000.

The theft did not stop Tom winning gold

Evans was a silver medallist at the Sydney Paralympics last year.

He is competing in three cycling events at the Cerebral Palsy World Games.

The stolen equipment included a sports jersey won at the 1999 European Championships and shoes that were specially made for him.

Security staff at the university found the bag discarded nearby with the equipment missing.

A team spokesman said Evans had to borrow shoes and a helmet to compete in.

Gold success

"It's very upsetting for an athlete to have to go through this kind of incident before an important event.

"Luckily the thieves who had tried to jump start the car were disturbed and only took what they could carry otherwise we would have lost the bikes."

The incident did not seem to have ruined Evans' chances of success though.

He took the gold medal in his first race, the 200m flying start, with a time of 14.487 seconds.