Cockroft claims 16th Para Athletics world title
Cockroft holds the world record in her 800m event
- Published
British wheelchair racer Hannah Cockroft secured her 16th Para Athletics world title with a dominant win in the T34 800m final in Kobe, Japan.
The 31-year-old seven-time Paralympic champion, who won the 100m on Tuesday, set a new championship record of one minute 52.79 seconds.
Later Cockroft added a silver in the Universal 4x100m relay alongside Zac Shaw, Kevin Santos and Ali Smith behind China to give GB their 10th medal of the championships, which end on Saturday.
"To do what I did in the 800m, and then come back and get a silver in the relay is what I hoped for, but I don’t know if I believed I could do it," said Cockroft.
"Two races within 50 minutes of each other was a big ask. I was testing it here to see if I could actually handle it.
"But it is the perfect ending to the night, and it has given me a massive confidence booster ahead of the rest of the year and the Paralympic Games."
It is the fifth World Championships in a row that Cockroft has claimed the two-lap title and after she started quickest in Japan, she was never challenged.
She finished over 12 seconds ahead of 16-year-old Chinese athlete Lan Hanyu with her GB team-mate Fabienne Andre edged out for bronze late on by China’s Liu Panpan.
"I got a good start and relaxed which I didn't feel like I did so well in the heats," added the Yorkshire woman.
"I’m not upset with the time and a championship record at this time of the year. There is a lot of work to do, so I can only get faster.
"Sixteen world titles is like one world title for every year I have been racing so I am very happy."