Kadeena Cox, unable to perform at her peak because of fatigue and an aching hamstring, offered another demonstration of her class and resolve with a resounding victory in the T38 400m title at the World Para Athletics Championships last night. Cox, who became the first British Paralympian to top the podium in two sports since 1984 when she won athletics and cycling gold at Rio 2016, was a good 40m clear of Japan’s Yuka Takamatsu when she crossed the line in 1min 02.87sec.
It has not been a straightforward year for Cox, who had her funding suspended by UK Athletics when she appeared on The Jump, Channel 4’s celebrity winter sports programme. The 26-year-old, who was an able-bodied athlete before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after a stroke in 2014, was not happy with that decision and she arrived at this tournament short of sharpness.
She was disappointed to win bronze in the T38 200m final on Monday, a race dominated by her team-mate Sophie Hahn, and she was determined for a stronger showing in the longer distance. “Technically it was quite bad in the 200m,” Cox said. “I just wanted to go out and execute my race for at least 300m and then the rest of it was going to be death whatever I did.”
In the event the Paralympic champion dealt with the hamstring problem to win her third athletics world title. “I’ve got a bit of a niggle,” she said. “It’s an athlete thing. Then you add in the neurological condition. I’m having problems down my affected side. It’s all part of the parcel. I saw the Australian was heavily strapped on her left leg.
“I didn’t hit my world record, which I would have liked to have done. But I’ve not had the training. I’ve only had about two or three months of training, so I’m happy to have won here.”
Cox does not like to rush herself and it tends to be a while before the engine purrs, which can spread concern amongst her fans. Takamatsu was out of the blocks quickly and Australia’s Torita Blake also looked threatening.
Just as in Rio, however, Cox was unstoppable once she was into her stride and was nothing more than a speck in the distance after peeling round the bend. “I was meant to go hard for the first kind of 50m and then sit in,” she said. “I didn’t do that sitting in bit, so I knew I was past them at 200m, but I didn’t know what was happening after that. I just kept running.”
Cox does not have much time to recharge her batteries before Saturday’s T38 100m final. “The recovery was always going to be tricky,” she said. “I’ve got MS, so the fatigue builds up.”
Cox’s triumph was the only medal on day eight for Britain, who remain third in the standings behind the US and China.
Paul Blake missed out in the men’s T36 400m final. The Paralympic champion was second behind Australia’s James Turner as he headed down the home straight, only to drop to fourth as the line hovered into view. Turner won gold in 54.27sec, Poland’s Krzysztof Ciukszka took silver and another Australian, Keegan Pitcher, pinched bronze.
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug claimed the first gold of the evening when he cruised to victory in the T54 800m. The 31-year-old is the man to beat in wheelchair racing following David Weir’s retirement and he crossed the line in 1min 38.40sec. China’s Liu Yang took silver and Tunisia’s Yassine Gharbi claimed bronze.
