Sunday morning at the World Para Athletic Championships in Dubai saw Hannah Cockroft take to the track to fight for gold once again in the T34 100m.
She stormed to an incredible win, smashing a world record in the fastest time she has clocked to date at 16.77. This secured her 11th World Championship gold medal.
Hannah was competing alongside teenage teammate Kare Adenegan, who was the previous world record holder, Kare had to settle for silver this time in a strong performance on the world stage, but it was clear to see the Brits are still dominating this category.
Hannah Cockroft commented on her surprise victory:
“I haven’t dipped below 17 seconds ever in my career, not even in training, so I have no idea where that came from. But I’m so pleased it did on race day.”
This powerful performance has given Hannah the confidence she hopefully needs to produce more amazing wins in Tokyo next year.
“Now I’m a little bit confident for Tokyo but I don’t want to be too confident. This year in Nottwill [World Para Athletics GP] I also won gold and silver but that is just making me work harder.”
Going for Gold
It wasn’t just the T34 team that celebrated this weekend for ParalympicsGB, 19-year-old Maria Lyle took her first individual gold in the T35 100m, dominating the race with a time of 14.62.
Welsh treasure Aled Davies also scooped gold for the British team in the F63 shot put and celebrated with his baby daughter in his arms as he was interviewed after the win. He told BBC Sport:
“This was the hardest competition of my life. I wanted to show my little girl how it is done.
“I’ve won every accolade, I’m world record holder, but this competition was about regaining my confidence, and we’ll take that to Tokyo now.”
With wins like these from Hannah Cockroft, Maria Lyle and Aled Davies, it looks like Tokyo 2020 is shaping up to offer an exciting medal haul!
Image: British Paralympic Association
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