There was defiance from Kadeena Cox, brilliance from Sophie Hahn, grit from Georgina Hermitage and an awesome show of brute strength from Aled Davies. It was one of those Saturday nights at the London Stadium when it was difficult to know where to look first. Perhaps it was important just to take a moment to consider the beauty of Para sport, to appreciate how far these athletes are willing to push themselves in their pursuit of glory and recognition.
There is an argument that the penultimate evening at the World Para Athletics Championship belonged to Hahn, who shattered her own world record on the way to winning her third consecutive world title in the T38 100m. Her second gold at this competition confirmed her status as one of the finest sprinters of her generation, a remarkable thought given that she is only 20 years old.
But then there was Cox, who won silver behind Hahn despite enduring a sleepless night because of intense muscle spasms caused by her multiple sclerosis. As for Hermitage, she came into this tournament full of concern after an injury-hit year and leaves it clutching two gold medals after adding the T37 100m title to her 400m triumph, while Davies’s world record throw of 17.52m in the F42 shot put was the third biggest by any British athlete in 2017 (a caveat: while able-bodied athletes throw a shot put that weighs 7.62kg, the 26-year-old Davies threw a 6kg one).
The rush of medals began with Hahn, who has cerebral palsy, coping with a light drizzle to charge clear of Cox in 12.44sec. “She’s an absolute pocket rocket,” Cox said. “She’s worked so hard. She always puts on a great show and I’m always happy for her to do well because she puts so much into it. She’s a great person to have out there, to have someone from your country pushing you. I’m constantly striving to keep up with her. But the longer sprint’s definitely my thing.”
Cox had proven her endurance 24 hours earlier, adding the T38 400m title to her T38 200m bronze, and the 26-year-old settled for second place on Saturday night. But that does not begin to tell the full story of her struggle.
“I had an up and down night,” she said. “I spent the night with the medical team because my body was out of control. To turn around and pull a silver medal and a season’s best, I couldn’t ask for more. I expected to jog in last to be honest because my body’s broken.
“It’s because of my MS, I get really bad spasms and they got out of control last night. They’re controlled with medicine. But a 400m doesn’t really help, it pushed me over the boundary.
“It’s frustrating because I waste loads of energy. But the team are great. They carried me. I got a piggyback and carried over the shoulder and chucked into bed. But I’m here, in one piece, and I’m on the start line ready to fight.
“It’s hard because the muscle spasms keep me awake and then once I did get to sleep for a bit the muscle spasms woke me up. I deserve a good night’s sleep.”
So does Hermitage. The 28 year-old, who has cerebral palsy, has struggled with bone stress down her affected side this year and she had to battle hard to outlast Natalia Kobzar, only pulling away from the Ukrainian in the final 50m.
“I’m relieved it’s all over,” Hermitage said. “I know that sounds like an awful thing to say but coming into these championships, it wasn’t ideal. My start was not great and hence the Ukrainian was on my tail. I thought at one point I might even be squeezed out of the medals in the 100m. I am completely relieved. This is what it’s all about. It’s overwhelming. It’s been such a hard turnaround since Rio.”
With F42 discus gold already in the bag, Davies turned the shot put into a procession. “I wanted to show I’m in a league above everybody else,” the Paralympic champion said.
The men’s T44 high jump final ended as it always does, with Poland’s Maciej Lepiato taking gold at the expense of Great Britain’s Jonathan Broom-Edwards, who settled for silver after failing to trap his prey yet again.
Having defended his Paralympic title in Rio last year, Lepiato claimed his fourth consecutive world title with a decisive leap of 2.10m. Broom-Edwards could not keep the competition alive once the bar was raised to 2.12m and Lepiato cherished his fourth major win over the 29-year-old.
“He was there to be had today,” Broom-Edwards said. “I try not to think of him, what he’s doing when I’m competing. It’s an individual sport and it’s about me and what I’m doing. But, of course, he is my rival. Although he’s such a nice guy, I want to beat him on the top stage. It is getting closer.”
Broom-Edwards kept Great Britain’s medal tally ticking over. The host nation are third in the standings behind the USA and China.
