World Para-athletics Championships: Hannah Cockroft and Georgie Hermitage win
- Published
GB's Georgie Hermitage and Hannah Cockroft celebrated their victories together
Britain's Hannah Cockroft won her third gold medal of the World Para-athletics Championships in London on an evening compatriot Georgie Hermitage stormed to victory in a world record time.
Cockroft, 24, won the T34 400m, adding to her 100m and 800m titles, with team-mate Kare Adenegan third.
Hermitage, 28, comfortably retained the T37 400m crown she won two years ago.
Kyron Duke added a silver to GB's medal tally, while Richard Chiassaro, Stephen Miller and Isaac Towers won bronzes.
That means Britain have won 29 medals, including 13 gold, and are third behind leaders China (20 golds) and the US (15).
Cockroft completes treble treble
Cockroft has won 100m, 400m and 800m gold
Cockroft, who races in a category for athletes who have cerebral palsy and are in a wheelchair, has now completed a treble at two consecutive World Championships, as well as the 2016 Paralympics.
She has now won 10 world titles, to go with her five Paralympic gold medals, and is undefeated at major competitions.
The Yorkshire athlete won double gold for Britain in the same stadium at London 2012.
"I was confident until yesterday when I got full of cold. I've been in bed all day. I felt like I had nothing to put into this race," she told BBC Radio 5 live.
"I was thinking, 'I'm not going quick enough'. To not be 100% and win gold is incredible. It's great to represent GB and show what women can do in sport."
Adenegan, 16, ends the championships with two bronze medals following her third place in the 800m. Compatriot Carly Tait was fourth in Friday's race.
'Caged animal' Hermitage going for double
Hermitage also won T37 400m gold in Doha in 2015
Hermitage, who has cerebral palsy, looked in brilliant form as she secured what could be the first of two gold medals.
With the 100m still to come on Friday, she destroyed the 400m field to break her own world record with a time of one minute 0.29 seconds.
The 100m Paralympic champion is looking to win over both distances for the first time at a major event.
"I am relieved, surprised by the time, but all in all relieved. It shows if you do the right amount of cross training it shows you can improve," she said.
"Everyone has been coming home doing well all week and you sit there like a caged animal thinking, 'I want to get on, I want to get on'."
Chiassaro's long wait for a medal ends
Richard Chiassaro has ended his wait for a first medal at a major championships
Wheelchair racer Chiassaro, who has spina bifida, not only ended his wait for a first medal at a major championships, but also finished an eventful week on a high.
The 35-year-old, who raced for a fifth consecutive day, had come fourth in the T54 200m, been disqualified in the 800m and finished 8th in the 1500m, before finally securing bronze in the 400m.
He did it by just 0.02 seconds, beating Marcel Hug of Switzerland.
"My son said to me he was feeling nervous. He is only six and I just wanted to win a medal for him. He doesn't understand that I don't win every race so it is good for him to see me win a medal," he said.
Duke, 24, claimed silver in the F41 shot put for athletes of short stature, to match his medal in the javelin at the 2013 Worlds.
He threw a season's best 12.28m but was beaten by German Niko Kappel's world record effort of 13.81m.
"It feels amazing, my distance was not my best but a silver medal, you can't be sad about that," he said.
Miller, 37, made his Paralympic debut at Atlanta 1996, winning the first of three golds in the F32 club throw, and this bronze in London comes 19 years after his first World Championship success in 1998.
Towers, 18, stormed from last place as he entered the final bend of the T34 800m final to clinch third, with team-mate Ben Rawlings sixth.
Welshman Rhys Jones was fifth in the T37 100m final, while Zac Shaw failed to progress from his T12 200m semi-final.
- Published20 July 2017
- Published17 July 2017
