26 September 2015 

Some of the biggest names in para-athletics will make their final appearances at the Newham Open Meeting & Parallel Success today before heading to the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha next month.

In what is the first time a Parallel Success has been hosted at Newham, 88 athletes including 31 from the forthcoming team heading to the Middle East will be aiming for the perfect send off.

Reigning world champions Hannah Cockroft (coach: Jenni Banks), Paul Blake (Rob Ellchuk) and Sophie Hahn (Joseph McDonnell) and Richard Whitehead (Keith Antoine) will all be targeting strong performances in Newham ahead of their title defence which gets underway in the warmer climes of Doha between 22-31 October.

Double world champion Cockroft will line up in the T34 100m, 400m, 800m, with Blake determined to replicate the form that saw him claim a gold and a silver at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon two years ago.

Hahn, who broke through onto the international scene in 2013 on her senior debut with T38 100m gold and 200m silver, will contest both sprint events in Newham, while Whitehead will look to lower his season’s best of 25.69 this weekend in the T42 200m.  

One man who will be looking to get close to Whitehead is Invictus Games gold medallist Dave Henson (Roger Keller) while teenage prodigies Maria Lyle (Tabo Huntley) and Kare Adenegan (Job King), who will be the youngest member on the team in Doha, will face some world class opposition in their respective events on Saturday.  

Libby Clegg (McDonnell, guide runner: Mikail Huggins) will also continue her preparations, while the world’s fastest para-athlete Jason Smyth and Canada’s four-time world champion Brent Lakatos will be among the international contingent competing.

Results from the action in Newham will be available on the British Athletics website on Monday morning.