On the third and final day of the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Nottwil, Danny Sidbury (coach: Christine Parsloe, club: Sutton & District) once again stole the show as he set one of the fastest times in history in the men’s T54 1500m as he finished second behind Marcel Hug (SUI).

On a day of 1500m and 100m, several British athletes were once again in action on the track.

Sidbury’s performance was staggering as he held onto the ferocious pace of Hug who clocked a world record of 2:47.82, to come home just behind in 2:48.23, the fastest time ever by a Briton in the classification.

In the same race, David Weir (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) was eighth in 3:01.83, while in earlier races, Nathan Maguire (Ste Hoskins, Kirkby) posted a time of 2:59.78 so was fifth overall after both heats. Michael McCabe (Christine Parsloe, Sutton & District) recorded a time of 3:12.22, while Mo Jomni (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) [T53] finished the 1500m in 3:25.61.

In the women’s events, Sammi Kinghorn (Rodger Harkins, Red Star) posted a time of 3:31.49, while Mel Woods (Rodger Harkins, Red Star) was next in 3:32.45 and Eden Rainbow-Cooper (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) was close behind in 3:32.45.

Earlier in the day’s programme, there were some solid performances in the 100m races.

After an excellent three days of competition, James Freeman (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) rounded off the GP with a personal best in the T33 100, his time 18.51. However, it was Paralympic champion Andrew Small (Rick Hoskins, Stockport) who was the quickest in the field as he posted a time of 17.42 (0.9) ahead of Freeman who was second overall.

In the women’s T34 100m, Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft (Jenni Banks, Leeds) came away with a season best of 16.61 (0.8) which was the third quickest time of her career. Fabienne Andre (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) was next in 19.00, while Natasha Settelen (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) was fifth in 23.67.

Sammi Kinghorn pushed to 16.18 (0) in the T53 100m as Catherine Debrunner (SUI) once again set a world record with a time of 15.70 to tear up the history books for the third time during the competition.

In the T54 events, there was a personal best for Mel Woods who crossed the line in 17.33 (1.4). Her previous best was set earlier this month in Stoke Mandeville – 1745 – so this was a big improvement for the Paralympic finalist.

In the men’s T53 100, Mo Jomni was third quickest overall with his time of 15.61 (0) while Mickey Bushell (Fred Periac, Birchfield) was sixth in 16.57.

In the T52 race, Marcus Perrineau Daley clocked 18.79 (-0.5), while Dillon Labrooy and Hilmy Shawwal (all, Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) secured times of 15.28 (0.3) and 16.55 (-0.1) in the T54 100m.

Results