12th April 2020
LONDON 2017 THROWBACK - HAHN BREAKS WORLD RECORD TO WIN MAIDEN WORLD 200M TITLE
Saturday night at the World Para Athletics Championships in 2017 truly belonged to Sophie Hahn (Leon Baptiste; Charnwood) as she claimed her first ever T38 200m title under the lights in the capital.
Having seen Hannah Cockroft (Jenni Banks; Leeds City) kick off the championships in the perfect fashion with her own world record in the T34 100m, the spotlight was firmly on Hahn and teammate Kadeena Cox (Joe McDonnell; Sale Harriers Manchester)
Arriving in London, Hahn held the honour of being the European, world and Paralympic champion over 100m, but only had silver medals to show for her work over the 200m, with her fastest time of the year coming in Bedford, where she clocked 26.20s.
Cox, the reigning T38 400m athlete from the Paralympics in Rio, line up in lane six, with Hahn outside her in lane nine and both set off at a blistering pace.
Hahn exploded out of the blocks and opened up a big lead from Cox and as they hit the home straight, it was the two Brits that led the way.
The Charnwood athlete continued to maintain her speed as Germany’s Lindy Ave closed in and pipped Cox to silver, but it was Hahn against the clock and the former won, breaking the world and championship record with a 26.11s effort, improving per own best by 0.09s.
Hahn went on to complete the double as she took the T38 100m title, smashing her own world record in the process as she cut the tape in 12.44s.