London 2012: Hannah Cockroft delight at 'incredible' record
- Published
British wheelchair racer Hannah Cockroft is celebrating becoming the first athlete to break a world record in the Olympic Stadium in London.
Cockroft, from Halifax, finished third in the 100m multi-classification race, but was the leading athlete in her T34 class, clocking a time of 18.56 secs.
"Incredible is the word," the 19-year-old world champion told BBC Sport.
"I didn't come here expecting anything amazing at all. I had no idea I was near world record pace."
But she added: "I knew I was doing well because some of the girls who were behind me, I'm normally behind them."
Cockroft endured a nightmare journey to the stadium after the coach that was supposed to be taking the athletes broke down and they had to get taxis instead.
"The morning was really stressful, the coach broke down and then they wouldn't let the taxis in," she continued.
"I missed the warm up and had to just get my numbers on and go straight onto the track. It was the worst preparation I'd ever had before a race, my head wasn't in the right place at all," she said.
Cockroft won gold medals in the 100m and 200m at the world championships in New Zealand last year, and she thinks the experience of racing on the Olympic track will benefit her at the forthcoming Games.
"It's absolutely amazing here. Knowing that it's a fast track will be really helpful. I'm really thankful I've had the chance to race here," she concluded.