World champ Cockroft braced for India heat 'shock'

Hannah Cockroft will compete for Great Britain at the World Para Athletics Championships in India

Inside the sealed environmental chamber at Leeds Beckett University it is 40C.

The "hot box" has the kind of conditions that make you sweat as soon as you step inside and that's without putting in the hour of high-intensity efforts that Hannah Cockroft is enduring.

The 16-time world champion wheelchair racer is pushing herself to the limit as she prepares for the World Para Athletics Championships in India, which starts on Friday.

"It's all well and good racing around Leeds when it's 14C outside," she says.

"But it's going to be a very big shock when we get to India. So this is about getting our bodies used to it, and giving ourselves the best chance to do well."

Cockroft, 33, already has 16 world titles to her name

Halifax-born Cockroft and her husband, Nathan Maguire, who is also part of the GB squad competing in New Delhi, are being closely monitored by Dr Daniel Snape and his team.

"We're looking at their core temperature, skin temperature and heart rate," Dr Snape, who has a fellowship in sport and exercise, says.

"Heat increases the strain on the cardiovascular system, so you see an elevated heart rate. Your body will try and cool itself through diverting blood to the skin and sweating."

Heat stress has been evident already this month at the World Athletics Championships in Japan, where some marathon runners, including Bradford's Emile Cairess were forced to pull out due to the heat and humidity.

The conditions also prompted World Athletics president Sebastian Coe to suggest the global calendar of Olympic sports might need to be "re-engineered" amid the challenges posed by climate change.

And for disabled athletes, there's the added complication of high temperatures causing problems with equipment.

"The heat can add condensation to your push rims, which makes your wheels slippery," says Cockroft. "I struggle with my legs in the heat, so sitting in the chair is really uncomfortable. It's really useful for me to learn how long I can stay in the chair for, so I can plan for that on race day."

Athletes are preparing for intense temperatures at the Championships in New Delhi

In New Delhi, the 33-year-old is hoping to add four more world titles to her collection.

She is also at the start of another four-year cycle towards what will be her fifth Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 and has been working with the university to try and find new marginal gains.

In sport biomechanics technology is used to measure and analyse speed, force, power and motion to identify ways to improve technique and enhance performance.

It is a common part of the setup for elite non-disabled athletes, but this is the first time in Cockroft's 18-year athletics career she has had access to it.

'Tiny details'

"It's something that most athletes get access to every day of the week. It's a critical part of their training, but as wheelchair racers we've never been offered it," she said.

"There's not much research around our sport. We want to make a guide to show what you can test, and what it can tell you, so it can help develop the use of biomechanics in wheelchair racing."

Getting data on her power and technique for the first time has been illuminating.

"We did some work on positioning – starting higher up or lower down the push rim – looking at the power outputs. My start's always been the weakest part of my race so getting some numbers on that has already improved it."

As she heads to New Delhi India to defend her world titles in the T34 100m, 400m and 800m, as well as to compete in the universal relay, Cockroft's ambition to stay at the top of her game shows no sign of cooling.

"I'm always looking for those tiny details. It's been really exciting for me to try new things, to be the best athlete that I can be."

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