4th September 2021

SEVENTH PARALYMPIC TITLE FOR COCKROFT IN RECORD TIME

Hannah Cockroft stormed to a seventh Paralympic title with Kare Adenegan taking silver on the penultimate day of athletics action in Tokyo.

Cockroft (coach: Jenni Banks, club: Leeds) had already taken T34 100m gold and was the heavy favourite to regain the 800m title she won in Rio, having set a world record earlier this year.

The 29-year-old led from gun to tape, storming away from the rest of the field to win her second gold medal of the games in a time of 1:48.99.

Her winning time was just 0.12s off the world record she set this year and more than 11 seconds quicker than her Paralympic record from Rio.

“To be so close to the world record is gutting, but I am so happy to win the gold,” said Cockroft.

“I had a little accident in warm-up which I wasn’t sure if it would affect my chance, but it didn’t, I got a good start and I got around well.

“I knew it was my race to lose. I’ve gone a lot quicker than the other girls this year. I made a couple of mistakes but it’s all about the medal at the end of the day, not about the time.

“To go that close to the world record on a wet day, I’m not complaining.”

Behind her, Adenegan was clear of the rest of the field, and set a superb personal best of 1:59.85 to take her second silver medal of Tokyo.

Adenegan said: “I really wanted to get a PB out there today so I am so happy that I managed that. I focused very much on my own race plan. I know my start is my strength so I have to get away very fast to create a gap, so I’m really pleased that it paid off.

“I achieved what I set out to achieve so I’m really proud of myself. It’s been a tough couple of years so I’m really pleased with how I performed.”

Alexa Halko of the United States took bronze in a time of 2:02.22, whilst ParalympicsGB’s Fabienne Andre (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) finished fourth in a new personal best of 2:09.09.

While the women’s final was dominated by Cockroft, the men’s final featuring Isaac Towers (Peter Wyman, Kirkby) and Ben Rowlings (Coventry) was a much closer and more tactical affair.

Tunisia’s Walid Ktila took the gold medal in a time of 1:45.50 following a thrilling finish ahead of silver medallist Mohamed Alhammadi and bronze medallist Wang Yang, with Towers seventh in 1:48.08 and Rowlings eighth in 1:48.63.

Meanwhile, Zak Skinner’s (Aston Moore, Loughborough Students) debut Games came to an end as he added a fourth-place finish in the T13 long jump to his eighth place finish in the 100m from earlier in the event.

Skinner’s third round effort of 6.91m (+1.4m/s) was eclipsed by Isaac Jean-Paul f(USA) in the final round with a leap of 6.93m.

Orkhan Aslanov took gold thanks to a third-round effort of 7.36m, whilst Ivan Cano Blanco took silver with an opening leap of 7.04m.

The British medallists (23):

Gold (8):

Jonathan Broom-Edwards – Men’s T64 High Jump

Hannah Cockroft – Women’s T34 100m and 800m

Sophie Hahn – Women’s T38 100m

Owen Miller- Men’s T20 1500m

Dan Pembroke – Men’s F13 Javelin

Andrew Small – Men’s T33 100m

Thomas Young – Men’s T38 100m

Silver (5):

Kare Adenegan – Women’s T34 100m and 800m

Sammi Kinghorn – Women’s T53 400m

Richard Whitehead – Men’s T61 200m

Libby Clegg, Jonnie Peacock, Ali Smith, Nathan Maguire – 4x100m Universal Relay

Bronze (10):

Hollie Arnold – Women’s F46 Javelin

Columba Blango – Men’s T20 400m

Olivia Breen – Women’s T38 Long Jump

Dan Greaves – Men’s F64 Discus

Harri Jenkins – Men’s T33 100m

Sammi Kinghorn – Women’s T53 100m

Maria Lyle – Women’s T35 100m and 200m

Jonnie Peacock – Men’s T64 100m

Hannah Taunton – Women’s T20 1500m