Paralympics: Wheelchair racers win two ParalympicsGB golds
ParalympicsGB’s wheelchair racers, David Weir and Hannah Cockroft, win two more gold medals in the Paralympics Stadium.
(footage from Channel 4)
Hannah Cockroft and David Weir both won their finals to pick up their second and third gold medals respectively from the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Cockroft established a massive lead very quickly in her race, the T34 200m, and completed the race in a new Paralympic record time of 31.90 seconds.
She qualified for tonight’s final faster than any other competitor with a Paralympic record of 33.2 seconds. Her friend and team mate Melissa Nicholls was fourth in her heat, but qualified for the final as the fastest loser. She finished seventh out of the eight athletes in the final.
The silver medal went to Amy Siemons of the Netherlands and Desiree Vranken, also of the Netherlands, won bronze.
Last Friday Cockroft set a new Paralympic record when she won the 100m, completing the race in 18.06 seconds. She was a second-and-a-half ahead of her nearest rival Amy Siemons of the Netherlands.
David Weir won the gold medal in a tight T54 800m race. He had already dominated the field to secure gold in the 5,000m and 1,500m races.
Speaking after the race Weir dedicated the win to his children.
Other athletics results
Before Cockroft and Nicholls took to the track, Ben Rushgrove and Aaron Moores raced in the T36 200m, with Rushgrove winning bronze. They were followed by Paul Blake who won a bronze in the T36 800m.
Olivia Breen finished in eighth in the T38 200m final and she was followed by Ola Abidogun who, in his Paralympic debut, won bronze in the T46 100m sprint.
Stef Reid and Sophie Kamlish finished fourth and sixth respectively in the T44 200m sprint.
