Several athletes were on the track on day one of the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Nottwil where there were PBs for Sammi Kinghorn and Nathan Maguire, and a European record for James Freeman.

Early in the day, Sammi Kinghorn (Rodger Harkins, Red Star) revised her 200m PB in a fast and furious T53 race. The Paralympic medallist pushed well to improve her lifetime best to 28.18 (0) from 28.50, and the world record fell to Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner who posted a time of 27.47 to take the race victory.

The double Paralympic medallist returned to the track later in the day for the 800m where she was third in the race in 1:50.26. Debrunner again was in world record breaking form with 1:44.85, and Australia’s Madison de Rozario was next in 1:48.76.

Several athletes were involved in the men’s T54 800m with Nathan Maguire (Ste Hoskins, Kirkby) the quickest of the bunch with a personal best of 1:31.16 placing him second overall behind Marcel Hug in heat one. In the same race, David Weir (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) clocked 1:34.52 in his first race of the Grand Prix for fourth, while Richard Chiassaro (Jenni Banks, Harlow) was next to follow in 1:36.18.

Meanwhile Danny Sidbury (Christine Parsloe, Sutton & District), who competed in a separate race, was sixth fastest overall in 1:35.68; Dillon Labrooy (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) recorded 1:39.36 and Michael McCabe (Christine Parsloe, Sutton & District) in 1:40.97.

During the morning session, Maguire was first overall in the men’s T54 200m after a superb performance, just outside his PB with a time of 24.67 (0.3). Richard Chiassaro was fourth overall with an encouraging time of 25.42 (0.3), while Hilmy Shawwal (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) was 16^th in 28.37 (0.6).

With her world record standing at 1:48.99, Hannah Cockroft (Jenni Banks, Leeds) showed she is in strong form as she won the women’s T34 800m by a big margin in a time of 1:50.28. European champion Fabienne Andre (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) was second in the race in 2:14.77.

James Freeman (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) set a European record in the men’s T33 800m, posting a time of 2:10.64 with Andrew Small (Rick Hoskins, Stockport) close behind in 2:15.06. Freeman’s time was a slight improvement on Small’s previous record of 2:11.52 he set in Dubai earlier this year.

Paralympic champion Andrew Small had earlier won the men’s T33 200m, recording a time of 32.02 (0.3), while in the T34 event, Hugo Patteson-Knight (Sutton and District) was fifth overall in the classification in 37.47 (0.3). Elsewhere, Marcus Perrineau Daley (Weir Archer Academy) was another British athlete in 200m action, finishing second in the T52 200m in 32.21 (0.6).

In the men’s T34 800m, Ben Rowlings (Coventry) returned from injury to finish fourth overall in 1:47.36, while Hugo Patteson-Knight was 12th with a time of 2:34:39.

In the women’s T54 200m, Mel Woods (Rodger Harkins, Red Star) was fifth overall after a time of 30.70, while Eden Rainbow-Cooper (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) was seventh in 31.09 (0.7). In the 800m, Woods crossed the line fifth in 1:50.41, and Rainbow-Cooper was ninth overall in 1:56.78.

Results