IPC World Athletics: Hannah Cockroft claims third gold in Qatar
- Published
IPC Athletics World Championships |
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Venue: Qatar Sports Club, Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha Dates: 22-31 October |
Coverage: Daily reports on the BBC Sport website, plus coverage of key races on BBC Radio 5 live and BBC World Service |
Hannah Cockroft won her third gold of the meeting as Great Britain finished on a high at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha.
The 23-year-old won the T34 400m for GB's 13th gold of the event.
"It feels great to know that I am still the best in the world," Cockroft told BBC Sport.
Earlier, Hollie Arnold retained her F46 javelin title with a new personal best while the women's 4x100m relay took gold in their race.
Cockroft, who had won 100m and 800m gold earlier in the programme, was again facing American rival Alexa Halko and 14-year-old Briton Kare Adenagen.
But she looked a class apart, winning in a new championship best of one minute 2.66 seconds with Halko taking silver (1:04.20) and Adenagen winning a second bronze.
"The last time I raced the 400m I was beaten by Kare so to come back and show people it was a bad day, not a bad life, feels great," the two-time Paralympic champion added.
"I never expected to come home from here with three gold medals. This season has been challenging and I think a lot of people had doubts about me and it puts doubt in my mind. But I wanted to prove people wrong and show that I am not past my best."
Arnold sets record to retain title
Arnold took the lead in the second round with an effort of 40.03m, beating the old championship record of 37.79 and the 21-year-old then improved it to a new personal best of 40.53 in the fifth round.
The Cardiff-based athlete has been in superb form this year but was the last GB competitor to enter the arena on the final day of action.
"It has been hard to know you are last on but the fact the team produced so many medals helped me," she told BBC Sport.
"There was pressure on me as defending champion and I put a lot of pressure on myself because my expectations are very high.
"But I am in the form of my life, I have trained so hard and knowing I had won before my final throw was a great feeling. It is good to have competitors to keep you on your toes but going to Rio as world champion will give me massive confidence."
Relay joy for GB
The T35-38 relay team of Olivia Breen, Maria Lyle, Georgie Hermitage and Sophie Hahn put in an superb performance, setting a new world record of 52.22 seconds to beat Russia (53.18) into second.
"It's probably the most memorable medal I've won," said 15-year-old Lyle, who won two silver medals in her sprint events.
Hermitage, who comes away from Doha with two golds and a silver, added: "It's difficult on the bend to know how the race is going out but I just wanted to get around it, and make sure I got the baton to Sophie who is our pocket rocket.
"Being here with the girls is by far the best medal of the championship and gives us a real positive outlook knowing we are going to Rio as world record holders and we just want to push it even further."
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