Hannah Cockroft secured Great Britain’s first gold medal of the World Championships with a win in the women’s 200m T34.
The 20-year-old reigning Paralympic and world champion made it look easy as she led round the bend and pushed home well clear of the field to retain the title she won two years ago with a championship record time of 31.78seconds.
“I was favourite with no great challenge,” said Cockroft. “However it was a bit harder today with the heat and the rivals improving. I want to keep on going breaking records and winning medals.”
Fellow American Tatyana McFadden also kicked off her World Championship campaign in great form, qualifying for the final of the women’s 200m T54 with a personal best of 28.41seconds, well ahead of the field. McFadden’s younger sister Hannah finished second, whilst teammate Cheri Madsen won her semi-final with a personal best.
McFadden also made it through to the final of the 5,000m T54, winning her semi-final in 12:07.60 minutes, whilst Switzerland’s Manuela Schaer headed the field in her semi-final in championship record time, joining a final line-up that includes her compatriot, Paralympic champion Edith Wolf.
China’s Lisha Huang and America’s Angela Ballard won 200m T53 gold and silver respectively at the Paralympic Games last year and they continued their run of form in Lyon, with straightforward wins in their semi-finals to secure a place in Sunday morning’s final alongside six other athletes.
Italy’s Annalisa Minetti and Columbia’s Maritza Arango Buitrago won their semi-finals in the women’s 800m T11, whilst Turkey’s Sumeyye Ozcan and defending champion Miroslava Sedlackova of the Czech Republic go through as fastest losers.
Great Britain’s world bronze medallist Libby Clegg, Paralympic silver medallist Guohua Zhou and Ukraine’s Oxana Boturchuk won their heats of the women’s 200m T12 to qualify alongside fastest runner-up Hanka Kolnikova of Slovakia.
In the women’s shot put F58, Mexico’s defending champion Angeles Ortiz saved her best until last with a final throw of 11.43m to retain the title she won in New Zealand. Ortiz’s throw was a new Championship record, just three centimetres ahead of Bulgaria’s Stela Eneva, with Algeria’s Nassima Saifi winning bronze.
“I was not sure to win until the very end, nothing was won in advance, I am glad because the training was so intense,” said Ortiz.
“We will keep on training harder and harder. I dedicate this victory to my daughter who celebrated her birthday yesterday.”
The 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships opened on Friday (19 July) and will feature over 1,100 athletes from nearly 100 countries. It is the biggest gathering of international athletes since London 2012 and will be streamed live via www.ParalympicSport.TV
Live results can be found at Lyon 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships website whilst updates and behind the scenes pictures can be found at twitter.com/IPCAthletics and facebook.com/IPCAthletics
