Cockroft and Fortune start GB gold rush in Paris

Hannah Cockroft powered to her fourth consecutive T34 100m title for her eighth Paralympic gold medal while shot putter Sabrina Fortune claimed her maiden Games title as Britain's Para-athletes started their Paris gold rush in style.

Cockroft finished in 16.80 seconds at Stade de France - well ahead of team-mate Kare Adenegan (17.99) to win the first gold for the athletics team.

Fortune, a bronze medallist in Rio but fifth in Tokyo, improved her own world record in the F20 event for athletes with intellectual impairments with a first-round effort of 15.12m.

There was also silver for wheelchair racer Sammi Kinghorn behind Switzerland's Catherine Debrunner in the T53 400m, while Jonnie Peacock qualified safely for Monday's T64 100m final after finishing third in his heat.

Cockroft reigns supreme again

Hannah Cockroft is one of the most experienced members of the GB team

Cockroft, 32, has dominated the 100m event since making her international debut in 2011.

Gold at London 2012 was followed by the same result in Rio and Tokyo, and she came into Paris as the world record holder and the fastest in the world this year.

And after competing without a crowd in Tokyo, she was delighted to have vocal support in the French capital.

"I knew Paris could do it, and I’m so glad they did," she said.

"That noise is what we do it for, the support is amazing. I can’t wipe the smile from my face. For 12 years, that’s what we’ve worked for.

"I’m making my life well hard doing this. You know you are the one people are watching but that’s what keeps you going - you don’t want to let people down and I know I have more in me.

"My time wasn’t amazing but it doesn’t matter."

Cockroft is now three gold medals behind Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson's eleven, and can narrow the gap in Saturday's T34 800m final, where she is also defending champion.

Fortune joy after Tokyo disappointment

Fortune won bronze in Rio as a teenager but could only finish fifth in Tokyo in 2021.

Since then the 27-year-old from Deeside said she had gone through some tough times before winning two world titles - the first in Paris last year and then retaining her crown in Kobe in May.

She broke the world record in Kobe, beating the old mark of 14.39m with 14.73, and then extended it by a further 10cm in a competition in Birmingham in July.

After setting out her stall in the opening round, she stayed ahead of the field with France's Gloria Agblemagnon coming closest with a new personal best of 14.43 and defending champion Polith Mendes Sanchez of Ecuador third (14.31).

"I was expecting about 14m on the first throw, just a simple throw and then I hit the world record," she said.

"I just wanted to jump up and down and celebrate right then and then I remembered I have five more throws after that and couldn’t do it yet.

"This a magical atmosphere. It’s like you’re walking into a world that is just crazy.

"The roar around you is deafening. I was so scared after watching it on TV the last four or five days, I was so scared of going out there, but it was so amazing. It’s something that I don’t think I’ll ever forget."

Kinghorn hails family support

Scotland's Kinghorn claimed 400m silver and 100m bronze in Tokyo but had finished fourth in this race in Japan.

"I have worked incredibly hard for this," said the 28-year-old. "I won my first Paralympic medals in Tokyo and it was amazing, but genuinely, if I had come fourth today just the fact that my mum and dad and family and friends were there was enough for me.

"Catherine [Debrunner] is amazing. I was staying with her around the bend, but her endurance was a little better, but I put myself out there to see how close I could get. It's definitely the closest I have been all year."

Yorkshire-based duo land Paralympic bronze for Refugee team

The pair train at Bradford, Keighley and Skipton Disability Athletics Club

There was a second medal for the Refugee Paralympic Team – a first on the track – and it had a strong British connection.

Visually impaired athlete Guillaume Junior Atangana, known as Junior, and his guide Donard Nyamjua finished third in the T11 400m final, becoming the first male refugees to win a medal at an Olympic Games or Paralympic Games.

The pair represented Cameroon at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, finishing fourth, but sought refuge in the UK after competing in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and are now based in Bradford.

Their bronze follows the taekwondo bronze won by team-mate Zakia Khudadadi, who is from Afghanistan but now based in France, on Thursday.

"I'm very happy to have this medal. This medal shows that the Paralympic movement for refugees galvanises people," said Junior.

"It's a great honour for me. I've written my moment in history."