Tokyo Paralympics: Another glut of medals for Great Britain as Hannah Cockroft clinches sixth gold of her career
The wheelchair star's聽achievement takes her a step closer to the 11 Paralympic medals won by聽Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson聽between 1992 and 2004.
Sunday 29 August 2021 16:36, UK
Great Britain won another glut of medals on the fifth day of the Paralympics in Tokyo - as wheelchair star Hannah Cockroft clinched the sixth gold medal of her career.
The 29-year-old powered to T34 100 victory with a world record time of 16.39 at the National Stadium in the Japanese capital.
There were also golds for Paralympics GB on Sunday in the wheelchair rugby, on the rowing lake, in the triathlon and in judo.
Cockroft had previously won two golds at London 2012 and three more at Rio four years later.
Sunday's achievement takes her a step closer to the 11 Paralympic medals won by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson between 1992 and 2004.
Speaking after the T34 100 race, Cockroft said: "I honestly didn't know that time was within me.
"I knew that (fellow British athlete and silver medallist Kare Adenegan) was going to move out of the blocks, and I had to go with her as best I could.
"She just pulled a good time out of me. It has been coming, it has always been there hiding, it has just taken a few years to show its face."
Cockroft added there was "definite panic" as she fought for the sixth gold of her career.
"The 100m, when you're sitting on that start line, looks so short. (Adenegan) went, and I thought, 'I haven't got enough time. I need 120'," she said of the race.
"You just need to get your head down, get your arms moving.
"I had no idea how those girls were pushing - we hadn't raced together. I had raced Kare once this year. It was a shock all around."
And, speaking about the possibility of overtaking Grey-Thompson, she added: "I'm halfway and I'm three Games in. I'm 29, guys. I don't know if I can do another three Games.
"It's there, it's in the distance. This sport has changed so much since Tanni. She left a legacy.
"We just have to keep bringing more young girls into the sport. If I have to keep beating them, awesome."
Adenegan, a 20-year-old from Coventry, had to settle for second spot and a season's best, which was still significantly slower than her lifetime record of 16.8, set in 2018.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Great Britain claimed a historic first Paralympic medal in wheelchair rugby with a superb 54-49 win over three-time champions the United States.
The team's triumph in Tokyo was spearheaded by 24 tries from Jim Roberts.
The milestone moment for Great Britain in the mixed gender game came following previous bests of bronze-medal match defeats in 1996, 2004 and 2008.
Para-equestrian star Sir Lee Pearson scooped his 13th Paralympic gold medal on Sunday as he, Natasha Baker and Sophie Wells ensured Great Britain won the dressage team test to music.
There was also a double rowing gold for Great Britain's rowers on day five, with Laurence Whitely and Lauren Rowles winning the PR2 mixed double sculls.
Their victory was swiftly followed by glory in the PR3 mixed coxed four final for quartet Ellen Buttrick, Giedre Rakauskaite, James Fox and Ollie Stanhope, plus cox Erin Kennedy.
A further gold medal came for triathlete Lauren Steadman - a former Strictly Come Dancing star - in the women's PTS5 event.
And Chris Skelley clinched gold for Great Britain in the men's 100kg judo.
After five days of events, Great Britain sit second on the medal table between leading nation China and third-placed United States.