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Hannah Cockroft

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Hannah Cockroft
OBE, DL
Cockroft in 2010
Personal information
Full nameHannah Lucy Cockroft
Nickname
  • Hurricane Hannah[1]
Born (1992-07-30) 30 July 1992 (age 32)[2]
Halifax, West Yorkshire, England
Websitehannahcockroft.com
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportWheelchair racing
Disability classT34
Event(s)100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m
ClubLeeds City AC
Coached byJenni Banks
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finals2012
Medal record
Women's para athletics
Representing  Great Britain
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London 100 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2012 London 200 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio 100 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio 400 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio 800 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 100 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 800 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris 100 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris 800 m T34
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Christchurch 100 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2011 Christchurch 200 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2013 Lyon 100 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2013 Lyon 200 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2015 Doha 100 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2015 Doha 400 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2015 Doha 800 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2017 London 100 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2017 London 400 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2017 London 800 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2019 Dubai 100 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2019 Dubai 800 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2023 Paris 100 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2023 Paris 800 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2024 Kobe 100 m T34
Gold medal – first place 2024 Kobe 800 m T34
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Swansea 100 m – T34
Gold medal – first place 2014 Swansea 800 m – T34
Silver medal – second place 2018 Berlin 100 m – T34
Gold medal – first place 2018 Berlin 800 m – T34
IWAS World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Dubai 200 m T34/53
Gold medal – first place 2011 Dubai 400 m T34/53
Silver medal – second place 2011 Dubai 100 m T34/53
Silver medal – second place 2011 Dubai 800 m T34/53
100 m 18.06 gold medal at the 2012 Paralympic Games
Cockroft winning the 100 m T34 qualifying heat at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Hannah Lucy Cockroft[3] OBE DL (born 30 July 1992) is a British wheelchair racer specialising in sprint distances in the T34 classification and TV presenter.[4][5]

She holds the world records for the 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres and 1500 metres in her classification and the Paralympic records at 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres and 800 metres.[6] Competing for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she won two gold medals.[7][8] She won three further gold medals at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.[9]

Early years

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Cockroft was born on 30 July 1992 in Halifax, West Yorkshire. She had two cardiac arrests after birth which left her with permanent damage in numerous areas of her brain, resulting in weak hips, deformed feet and legs and mobility problems and affecting the fine motor skills in her hands.[10] She is able to walk short distances but uses a wheelchair for long distances.[11]

Introduction to wheelchair racing

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After being turned away from sport throughout her primary education, Cockroft competed at secondary school in swimming, seated discus and wheelchair basketball.[12][13]

As a result of a silver medal performance in the seated discus at the UK School Games, she attended a British Paralympic Association talent day at Loughborough University in October 2007.[14][12] Here, she was given her first opportunity to try an elite racing wheelchair by Dr Ian Thompson, husband of former wheelchair racer Tanni Grey-Thompson.[15]

Thompson went on to coach her for the first year of her career.[12] In 2008 a dance academy she attended gave the proceeds from programme sales at its annual show to help her buy her own racing chair, but when it arrived, its made-to-measure set up was incorrect, so her father, a welder, modified the wheelchair to fit.[13] After returning to the UK School Games that year, and taking gold in her first competitive 100 metres race, she was subsequently invited to join the Great Britain Paralympic Team shortly after the Beijing Paralympics.[12] In 2009, Cockroft participated in her first ever road race; the London Mini Marathon, taking the Champion title in the girls 14–19 age group category.

Career

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2010

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By 2010, Cockroft was being coached by Peter Eriksson, head Paralympic coach at UK Athletics.[16] She again competed in the London Mini marathon, retaining her title as the female champion and at the Knowsley disability athletics challenge in May, she broke her first World Record in the T34 400 metres, recording a time of 65.51 seconds. Later that month, Cockroft sat her A-level exams and broke seven more world records in the space of eight days.[17][18][19] At the Aviva and UK Athletics Awards in December, she received the Best British Paralympic Performance award for 2010.[20]

2011

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Cockroft made her senior Great Britain team debut at the age of 19, at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. Here, she took gold in the T34 100 metres and the T34 200 metres.[21] Later that year she made her junior representative debut at the IWAS World Junior Championships, winning both the 200 metres and 400 metres. Her performances earned her a second Best British Paralympic Performance award in November 2011 and honorary lifetime membership of her athletics club, Leeds City AC.

2012

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In May 2012, Cockroft became the first Paralympic athlete to break a world record in the London Olympic Stadium, recording a time of 18.56 seconds to win the T34 100 metres.[22] She broke the record again at the Swiss National Championships later that month, finishing in 17.60 seconds.

On 31 August 2012, Cockroft competed in her first Paralympic Games final and won Great Britain's first track gold medal since 2004, and first track and field gold medal of the 2012 Summer Paralympics, winning the final of the 100 metres T34 in 18.05 seconds, a Paralympic record.[23] On 6 September, she won another gold medal in 200 metres T34 in 31.90 seconds, also a Paralympic record.[24]

In honour of her achievements at London 2012, Royal Mail issued two postage stamps featuring Cockroft and painted two post boxes gold in her home town of Halifax.[25][26] She was awarded the freedom of Calderdale at a homecoming event at the Halifax Piece Hall and was named an MBE in the 2013 New Year Honours.[27][28]

2013

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On 28 July, Cockroft won the T33/T34 100 metres race at the Anniversary Games at the Olympic Stadium with a stadium record time of 17.80 seconds.[29] Later that month, at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, Cockroft retained both her T34 100 metres and T34 200 metres titles.[30][31]

Cockroft was named in the 2013 BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist, coming 7th overall. She was the first Paralympian to ever be nominated for the award outside of a Paralympic year.[32][33]

2014

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In March, Cockroft competed in and won a Sport Relief edition of Strictly Come Dancing, dancing with Pasha Kovalev.[34] On 1 June, Cockroft recorded a new world-record time of 3.53.57 over 1500 metres during the Bedford International Games.[35]

In August, Cockroft took gold in 100 metres and for the first time competed in the 800 metres, winning gold at her first IPC European Championships that were held in Swansea. She later took her fourth title as British Athletics Para athlete of the year and was named Athletics Weekly female para athlete of the year.[citation needed]

2015

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2015 saw Cockroft lose her first race in seven years, when she came second to British compatriot Kare Adenegan over 400 metres at the Newham open meet in July. She won the 800 metres later the same day. In Doha at the IPC World Championships at the end of the season, Cockroft retained her world champion title over the 100 metres, and won her first gold medals over the 400 metres and 800 metres, on a world championship stage.

2016

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At the 2016 Rio Summer Paralympic Games, Cockroft won three gold medals, retaining her title in the Women's 100 metres T34 Final,[36] and winning the Women's 400 metres T34 Final, recording a new world-record time of 58.78 seconds,[37] and the Women's 800 metres T34 Final.[38] She broke the Games record in all three events. Upon her return home, she was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire.

2017

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In 2017, Cockroft raced over the 1500 metres for the third time in her career, breaking the T34 World record with a time of 3.50.22. She now held the full set of T34 World Records for the first time. At the same meet, held in Arbon in Switzerland, she also demolished her 400-metre World record set the previous year at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, and her 800-metre World Record, recording a new time of 1.55.73. In July, she returned 'home' to the QEII Olympic Stadium in Stratford to compete in her fourth World Championships. Although she had food poisoning the night before the T34 100 metres final, Cockroft powered home to take gold in a new world-record time of 17.18 seconds. She also became world champion over the 800 metres and 400 metres, making her a 10-time world champion and the most decorated British athlete in World Championship history. Cockroft was named British Sportswoman of the year by the Sports Journalists Association for her achievements. She was the first Paralympic athlete to ever win the award in its 57-year history.

2018

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2018 saw Cockroft's first defeat on the international stage. After topping the podium for seven years, the 26-year-old won silver in the T34 100 metres at the World Para Athletics European Championships in Berlin. She then went on to regain her European Champion title over the 800 metres, after missing the event in 2016.

2021

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In June 2021, Cockroft was among the first dozen athletes chosen to represent the UK at the postponed 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.[39] At the end of June, she was in Manchester for the British Athletic Championships where she was first in a mixed classification 400 metres wheelchair race in front of Sammi Kinghorn and Mel Woods.[40] She successfully retained her women's 100 metres T34 Paralympic title after winning gold at the Tokyo Paralympics with a new world record timing of 16.39 seconds.[41] It was also her third consecutive Paralympic gold medal in women's 100 metres event and her seventh Paralympic gold medal.[42][43]

2023

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In July 2023, she won her sixth 100m world title at the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris.[44]

2024

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Cockroft was selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics held in Paris, France.[45] In the 100m T34 she won gold with a time of 17.99, more than a second ahead of teammate Kare Adenegan[45] In the 800m T34, she also won gold in a time of 1:55:44, eight seconds ahead of teammate and silver medallist Kare Adenegan, bringing her Olympic gold medals tally to nine.[45]

Personal life

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Cockroft left her home and training base in Yorkshire to study journalism and media at Coventry University in 2013. She moved back to her home town of Halifax in 2016 to prepare for the Rio Paralympic Games. She has ambitions to work in television media after her athletics career.

In October 2014, Cockroft challenged then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson to spend a day in a wheelchair, with Cockroft claiming that "wheelchair access on the [London Underground] is so bad" the Mayor would not be able to attend all his appointments.[46] Mayor Johnson declined the challenge, but thanked Cockroft for her efforts to highlight accessibility challenges.[47]

In October 2014 she launched 17 Sports Management Limited ("17"), a sports management company.[48]

She cites Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc as her sporting inspiration.[49] Petitclerc, winner of 15 Paralympic gold medals and formerly coached by Eriksson, has been involved with Cockroft's development as a mentor and advisor.[50][51]

In March 2019 she appeared on a special Stand Up To Cancer episode of The Great British Bake Off on Channel 4.[52][53] In 2020, Cockcroft and her partner Nathan Maguire appeared together on a celebrity special of the BBC television programme The Hit List.[54]

Honours

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Cockroft was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours[55][56] and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours,[57][58] both for services to athletics.

Statistics

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Personal Bests
Event Time Competition Location Date
100m 17.18 World Para Athletics Championships London, UK 14 July 2017
200m 30.51 Daniella Jutzeler Memorial Meet Arbon, Switzerland 4 June 2015
400m 57.73 Swiss National Championships Arbon, Switzerland 27 May 2017
800m 1.55.73 Swiss National Championships Arbon, Switzerland 28 May 2017
1500m 3.50.22 Para Athletics Grand Prix Nottwil, Switzerland 3 June 2017

Records

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Event Time Competition Location Date
World records
200 metres T34 30.51 Daniella Jutzeler Memorial Meet Arbon, Switzerland 4 June 2015
400 metres T34 57.73 Swiss National Championships Arbon, Switzerland 27 May 2017
800 metres T34 1.55.73 Swiss National Championships Arbon, Switzerland 28 May 2017
Paralympic records
100 metres T34 17.42 2016 Summer Paralympics Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 10 September 2016
200 metres T34 31.90 2012 Summer Paralympics London, United Kingdom 6 September 2012
400 metres T34 58.78 2016 Summer Paralympics Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 14 September 2016
800 metres T34 2.00.62 2016 Summer Paralympics Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 16 September 2016
Hannah Cockroft's gold postbox in Mount Tabor, West Yorkshire

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Team GB: Hurricane Hannah Breezes Into Final". Team GB. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  2. ^ "London 2012 Athletes: Hannah Cockroft". ParalympicsGB. Archived from the original on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  3. ^ "Hannah Lucy Cockroft- Double World Champion". Facebook. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  4. ^ "Hannah Cockroft OBE". Sporting Heritage. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Tokyo Paralympics: Great Britain's Hannah Cockroft wins third successive 100m gold". BBC Sport. 29 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  6. ^ "IPC Athletics Records". www.paralympic.org. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  7. ^ "Paralympics 2012: Cockroft wins first GB track gold". BBC Sport. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  8. ^ "Paralympics 2012: Hannah Cockroft wins second sprint gold". BBC Sport. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  9. ^ "Rio 2016 Paralympic Results".
  10. ^ "Hannah Cockroft remembers her fifth birthday, 1997". Daily Telegraph. 7 March 2014. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  11. ^ Marsh, Jennie (29 August 2012). "London 2012 Paralympics: Ten essential facts about ... Hannah Cockroft". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d "Hannah Cockroft". Leeds Gold. Archived from the original on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  13. ^ a b Williams, Richard (31 August 2012). "Hannah Cockroft burns up the track to relight a flame at Paralympics". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  14. ^ "London 2012 Athletes: Hannah Cockroft". ParalympicsGB. Archived from the original on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  15. ^ Steinberg, Jacob (18 August 2012). "Paralympics 2012: Hannah Cockroft fears freeze on London's big stage". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  16. ^ "Hannah Cockroft". London 2012. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  17. ^ "Sports Personality contender: wheelchair racer Hannah Cockroft". BBC Sport. 4 December 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  18. ^ Steinberg, Jacob (18 August 2012). "Paralympics 2012: Hannah Cockroft fears freeze on London's big stage". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Paralympics 2012: Hannah Cockroft storms away from the field to win GB's first athletics gold". The Telegraph. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Gaudio Designs and Manufactures UKA Aviva Athletics Awards". Gaudio Trophies. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  21. ^ "London 2012 Athletes: Hannah Cockroft". ParalympicsGB. Archived from the original on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  22. ^ "London 2012 Athletes: Hannah Cockroft". ParalympicsGB. Archived from the original on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  23. ^ "Paralympics 2012: Cockroft wins first GB track gold". BBC Sport. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  24. ^ "Paralympics 2012: Hannah Cockroft wins second sprint gold". BBC Sport. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  25. ^ "Another stamp for Hannah's second gold medal win!". Halifax Courier. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  26. ^ "Location of Hannah Cockroft's second golden post box revealed". Halifax Courier. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  27. ^ a b "Hannah Cockroft awarded Freedom of Calderdale". BBC News. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  28. ^ "Crowds welcome Hannah home!". Halifax Courier. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  29. ^ "Anniversary Games: Alan Oliveira world record, Jonnie Peacock PB". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  30. ^ "IPC Athletics: Hannah Cockroft and Aled Davies win gold medals". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 July 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  31. ^ "IPC Athletics: Hannah Cockroft secures sprint double in Lyon". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  32. ^ "Hannah Cockroft OBE DL | Paralympic Speakers | Evolve Agency". Evolve. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  33. ^ Purcell, Emma (20 August 2021). "Tokyo 2020 Paralympics: Hannah Cockroft". Disability Horizons. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  34. ^ "Sport Relief does Strictly". Wheelchair Dance Support Association (UK). Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  35. ^ "Bedford International Games – Results" (PDF). Bedford International Games. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  36. ^ "Gold and silver in Paralympics 100m for Coventry's Hannah Cockroft and Kare Adenegan". Coventry Telegraph. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  37. ^ "Paralympics 2016: Britain surpass Beijing 2008 gold medal total as Sarah Storey and Hannah Cockroft triumph". The Independent. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  38. ^ "Rio Paralympics: Halifax's Hannah Cockroft leads golden streak to beat London 2012 tally". Yorkshire Post. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  39. ^ "British team for Paralympics starts to take shape". AW. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  40. ^ "Muller British Champs (Sunday): Jemma and Beth book Tokyo tickets". Scottish Athletics. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  41. ^ Media, P. A. (29 August 2021). "Cockroft breaks T34 100m world record to claim sixth Paralympic gold". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  42. ^ "Cockroft wins third successive 100m gold". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  43. ^ "ATHLETICS PARALYMPIC GOLD MEDALLISTS AMONG THOSE RECOGNISED IN THE NEW YEAR HONOURS LIST". British Athletics. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  44. ^ "Para Athletics World Championships: Hannah Cockroft leads 100m British clean sweep". BBC Sport. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  45. ^ a b c Harkness, Ewan (23 August 2024). "Hannah Cockroft, Alfie Hewett and 23 other ParalympicsGB athletes you need to know about". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  46. ^ "Paralympic champion challenges Boris Johnson to spend a day in a wheelchair". ITV News London. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  47. ^ "Boris declines challenge by Paralympian to spend day in a wheelchair". ITV News London. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  48. ^ Hannah Cockroft launches sports management company
  49. ^ "London 2012 Athletes: Hannah Cockroft". ParalympicsGB. Archived from the original on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  50. ^ Hart, Simon (6 September 2012). "Paralympics 2012: Hannah Cockroft destroys the field as she wins T34 200m final to claim gold for Great Britain". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  51. ^ "Hannah Cockroft Q&A". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  52. ^ Spink, Alex (19 August 2021). "Hannah Cockroft primed for Paralympic take off after Celebrity Bake Off". The Mirror. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  53. ^ "The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer press pack | Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  54. ^ "Nathan Maguire". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  55. ^ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 24.
  56. ^ "2013 New Year's Honours" (PDF). Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  57. ^ a b "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N11.
  58. ^ "New Year Honours 2022: Jason Kenny receives a knighthood and Laura Kenny made a dame". BBC Sport. 31 December 2021.
  59. ^ "Hannah Cockroft receives honorary degree". The Telegraph and Argus. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  60. ^ Lewis, Haydn (15 November 2016). "Degree of success for York St John". York Press. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  61. ^ "New Year Honours 2022: Jason Kenny receives a knighthood and Laura Kenny made a dame". BBC Sport. 31 December 2021.
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