29th October 2015

Teenagers In The Medal Mix In Doha

29 October 2015

Three further medals were added to British Athletics’ medal tally on day eight of the IPC Athletics World Championships.

Sophie Hahn (coach: Joe McDonnell) ran the race of her life to win the silver medal in the T38 200m, recording a career best of 26.82. It took a world record from Margarita Goncharova (26.61) to beat the 100m champion, but the 18 year-old pushed the Russian all the way after a blistering start.

Hahn said: “I am very happy because I didn’t expect to get a personal best. Margarita (Goncharova who won the gold and set a world record of 26.61) is a fantastic athlete and I think her endurance got the better of me today.

“It was a very close race – I heard the crowd roaring and thought that might be a good thing but then I realised Goncharova was coming so I was just thinking to myself ‘I’ve got to get moving here’. My legs maybe tired a little and she got the better of me today. However, all the hard work has paid off and I’m so happy to win a silver medal.”

Olivia Breen (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo), also competing in the T38 200m was also in fine form to set a lifetime best of 28.06 to finish narrowly outside the medals in fourth position.

Maria Lyle (Tabo Huntley) continued her progression to win the silver medal in the T35 100m in an official lifetime best of 13.92. The 15 year-old was level with Australian rival Isis Holt until the 14 year old opponent pulled away over the final to set a new world record of 13.63. 

Lyle, who also won 200m silver earlier in the week, commented afterwards: “I’m happy with the time considering I had a bad start. I would have liked to have won the gold medal but it wasn’t to be, I tried my best.

“The start is something I’ll have to work on with my coach – we’ll have to focus on a lot of technical things. I’m going to have a hard winter training session to make sure I’m in even better shape ahead of Rio next year.”

Her attention turns swiftly to the T35-38 4x100m relay on Saturday where she will join her teammates for her last race of the championships.

“I now have to focus on the relay on Saturday, we have a really strong team and everyone is running well so it should be exciting.”

17 year old Shaun Burrows (McDonnell) earned the bronze medal on his senior debut in the T38 400m. Burrows, who won IWAS Junior Games 200m gold in July, ran the race of his life to win a first world medal in a lifetime best of 53.45.

Burrows, who felt the true lactic effects of a 400m added after: “I can’t believe I won a medal. My legs feel like jelly now but it was a very good race. I’m happy with a personal best and it gives me confidence for the 100m.”

Graeme Ballard (Huntley) was narrowly edged out of the medal positions in the T36 100m by four-hundredths of a second. ‘The Bullet’ will now focus on the semi-finals of the 200m tomorrow evening.

Another close finish saw Jenny McLoughlin (Keith Antoine) miss out on a bronze medal to finish fourth with a seasons best of 30.05. Running in lane eight, the Wales-based athlete ran a strong, composed race, but was just squeezed out of the medals by a fast-finishing Johanna Benson of Namibia.

McLoughlin spoke after her race: “I’m pleased with fourth but I would have loved to have been on that medal table, maybe next year. I was out in lane eight so I was running my own race and couldn’t see what was going on in the inside lanes. It was great to run in the world final and I’m happy with how I performed but I’m slightly disappointed I didn’t get into the medal positions.”

In the T44 100m final, Sophie Kamlish (Rob Ellchuk) finished fifth as the Netherlands’ Marlou van Rhijn extended her own world record to 12.80. The Bath-based athlete bemoaned a ‘bad’ start but she recorded 13.51 and also commented how the standards in the event have improved greatly since the Championships in Lyon two years ago, which she sees as a positive thing.

Jordan Howe (Antoine) was in reflective mood after a fifth place finish in the T35 100m final. The 20 year old trains alongside T42 200m world champion Richard Whitehead (Antoine) and the talented youngster is showing the sort of form that will put him in medal contention over the next few years. A 13.15 clocking on the day saw him outside the medals but he is buoyant about the future and returning stronger in 2016.

Mo Jomni (Jenny Archer) was also fifth in the T53 800m final to draw his long championships to a close. The 200m bronze medallist came home in a time of 1:43.10 behind Brent Lakatos, who collected the gold medal for Canada.


British Athletics’ medal tally at the IPC Athletics World Championships (27): 

Gold (10): Paul Blake (T36 800m),Jo Butterfield (F51 club throw),Hannah Cockroft (T34 100m and 800m), Kadeena Cox (T37 100m),Aled Davies (F42 shot put and discus), Sophie Hahn (T38 100m), Georgie Hermitage (T37 400m), Richard Whitehead (T42 200m)

Silver (9): Paul Blake (T36 400m), Daniel Bramall (T33 100m), Sophie Hahn (T38 200m), Georgie Hermitage (T37 100m),Maria Lyle (T35 100m and 200m),Mel Nicholls (T34 800m),David Weir (T54 1500m & Marathon)

Bronze (8): Kare Adenegan (T34 800m), Shaun Burrows (T38 400m), Jo Butterfield (F52 Discus), Kyron Duke (F41 Javelin), Toby Gold (T33 100m), Abbie Hunnisett (F32 club throw), Mo Jomni (T53 200m), Sammi Kinghorn (T53 200m) 

Over two hours of live coverage each day will also be available to watch on More4 and a live stream will be available on the Channel 4 website: http://paralympics.channel4.com/competitions/athletics-world-championships-2015/video/index.html