By Tom Degun

June 24 - Hannah Cockroft (pictured), the 2010 Virgin Mini London Marathon winner, smashed her own 400 metres world record before setting three more over 100m, 200m and 800m at the iconic Stoke Mandeville Stadium.



Competing at the British Wheelchair Athletics Association (BWAA) International, the 17-year-old from Halifax reduced her own T34 400m record that she set in May by over a second as she recorded a time of 1min 04.27sec.

Cockcroft then clocked 19.35 in the 100m to take 0.20 seconds off the old record before claiming the 200m world record with a time of 33.80 to shave 0.07 seconds off the previous mark.

The teenager then capped a phenomenal display by setting yet another world record in the 800m with a time of 2:14.79 to beat Deborah Brennan’s nine-year-old record over the distance by 2.20 seconds.

Cockcroft, who is mentored by UK Athletics Paralympic head coach Peter Eriksson, admitted that she was delighted with her performance at the event and credited Eriksson with her tremendous form.

She said: "I really wanted to go out there and win it.

"It was a very strong international line up and I’m really pleased to won.

"Conditions weren’t great because it was really windy, but with it being a 400m, we had a tail wind as well as a head wind.

"I’m now hoping to go even quicker.

"Training has been going really and prior to my race Peter reinforced some of the key things we’d been working on.

"We went through the starts, which is something I’ve been struggling with and getting into a good racing position, it worked so I think we’ll stick with it now."

The event at Stoke Mandeville also saw a new British record set by shot putter Danny Nobbs while Germany’s Mark Schuh also broke the German national record on the track.

Mike Wood, Chairman of the BWAA, admitted that he was delighted to see many of the top British wheelchair athletes competing at the prestigious event, including double Beijing 2008 Paralympic gold medallist David Weir. 

Wood said: "It is great to see elite wheelchair athletics back at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the home of wheelchair sport, in the lead up to London 2012. 

"As well as showcasing the very best wheelchair athletics talent from around the globe, we wanted to continue to inspire youngsters and those recently injured back into sport. 

"With an array of athletes from the Aviva GB and Northern IReland Team, including the likes of Paralympic medallists Dave Weir, Stephen Miller and Mickey Bushell, and from around the world, the event proved to be a great display of wheelchair athletics."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]