Hannah Cockroft made history yesterday by claiming her third gold medal of the Championships and a tenth World Para Athletics title.
Cockroft’s T34 gold saw her become Britain’s most successful athlete at a World Para Athletics Championships with 10 world titles.
Once again Hannah Cockroft lined up with Kare Adenegan and Carly Tait in the same field, this time for the T34 400m. Again it was Cockroft who set the track on fire, finishing in 58.29 – another gold and another championship record. Adenegan came home in 1:02.94 for bronze, her third medal of the Championships, while European silver medallist Tait, claimed fourth spot in 1:07.89.
Cockroft said: “Ten just feels like a number right now to be honest – you go out there and focus on the race rather than thinking about numbers. Ten world titles is a pretty good thing to get in front of a home crowd, the noise tonight was phenomenal.”
Georgie Hermitage broke her own world record as she retained her T37 400m title. Hermitage revised her T37 world record by 0.25 of a second. “It means everything” she said. “It’s a huge relief. This year has been the toughest to date, so to come out and do that has been overwhelming and unexpected.”
Richard Chiassaro, who had raced eight times already in the Championships richly deserved his bronze medal in the T54 400m final. Speaking afterwards, he said: “I’ve had a bit of an up and down week and I think a lot of people were rooting for me to do well. I didn’t know I’d medalled there today until the crowd were cheering. What was really great was that my family were here to see it. My girlfriend and my six year-old son have been here every day and today he was standing up and cheering me. That was great.”
Stephen Miller made his seventh appearance at a World Para Athletics Championships in the F32 club throw, arriving to a huge roar by the London Stadium. A throw of 29.32cm was enough to keep his hold on bronze.
Afterwards, Miller said: “I experienced disappointment in this stadium in 2012 when I didn’t even get in the top eight when I was team captain. I always said I wanted to come back to this stadium and prove that wasn’t me. A lot has happened in the last five years, one of them being getting a new hip! We keep working hard to get better every year and throw further. That’s the secret; don’t complicate it too much. I still have that motivation to get out there and compete; I love the sport and why wouldn’t you on days like today.”
Kyron Duke made a bright start with a throw of 12.28m in the F41 shot put, a season’s best which turned out to be his evening’s furthest and won him the silver medal.
Isaac Towers took his chances in the T34 800m to claim bronze – his first global medal on home soil.
On his first global medal and the race, Towers commented: “I got myself a little bit boxed in during the first lap and got myself a little bit worried but as the race broke up and the pack broke up I was able to get in there and get in a good position.”
The British medal tally now sits at 29, exceeding the minimum target of 26 set by UK Sport ahead of the Championships.
British Athletics medallists (29) at the World Para Athletics Championships London 2017:
Gold (13):
Hollie Arnold – F46 Javelin
Olivia Breen – T38 Long Jump
Hannah Cockroft – T34 100m, 400m, 800m
Aled Davies – F42 Discus
Sophie Hahn – T38 200m
Georgie Hermitage – T37 400m
Sophie Kamlish – T44 100m
Sammi Kinghorn – T53 200m
Jonnie Peacock – T44 100m
Stef Reid – T44 Long Jump
Richard Whitehead – T42 200m
Silver (3):
Kare Adenegan – T34 100m
Kyron Duke – F41 Shot
Toby Gold – T33 100m
Bronze (13):
Kare Adenegan – T34 400m, 800m
Richard Chiassaro – T54 400m
Kadeena Cox – T38 200m
David Henson – T42 200m
Sammi Kinghorn – T53 400m
Maria Lyle – T35 100, 200m
Stephen Miller – F32 Club Throw
Gemma Prescott – F32 Club Throw
Andrew Small – T33 100m
Isaac Towers – T34 800m
Richard Whitehead – T42 100m
