Golden Girls Inspiring A Generation

By Sam Tonks

Another day brought more success for GB Para-Athletics as three more golds were won on day four of the IPC Para-Athletic Championships. Olivia Breen, Hannah Cockroft and Sophie Kamlish enjoyed golden moments in front of the London Stadium crowd.

Speaking after their evening finals, the latter pair were already looking to build on their achievements. Cockcroft goes for a treble on Thursday in the T34 400m.

"It'd be fantastic to win on Thursday, it'll be my tenth world title, a fantastic way to sum up the year," she said.

"I've broken five world records this year, worked hard, finish it off and hopefully have a nice holiday". 

However Kamlish is a university student, as well as world champion and world record holder now, so aims to balance her commitments.

"I've just finished my first year and so would like to finish that, as well as training six times a week," she said.

"I wanna compete as much as I can, be selected for all the championships and hopefully not get too tired".

Defeating the then defending world champion Marlou Van Rhijn, Kamlish was overcome with joy at her feat.

"She's been winning the 100m every time since 2013, a long time, so it was amazing to do it in front of a home crowd."

Thousands of school kids were in attendance during the day, Cockroft hopes her and her compatriots superlatives can inspire a younger generation.

"I hope these championships give kids dreams and ambitions that there are no excuses in life, if you wanna do something, you can do it.

"As Para-Athletes we wanna show anything is possible and you can live your dreams.

"Hopefully they watch me, Richard Whitehead or Richard Chiassaro and say I wanna be like them."

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