Halifax's Hurricane Hannah breaks world record to win sixth Paralympic gold medal

Wheelchair racer Hannah Cockroft from Halifax has won her sixth Paralypic gold medal with a world-record-breaking victory in the T34 100m at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

By sarah fitton

Published 29th Aug 2021, 17:17 BST

Updated 29th Aug 2021, 17:22 BST

Hannah Cockroft wins gold and breaks a world record at the Paralympic Games (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Hurricane Hannah, who also won the event at London 2012 and in Rio, achieved victory in an amazing time of 16.39 seconds.

"This last 18 months has been so weird and so, so hard and I just wish this stadium was full to have seen that," she told Channel 4.

"I didn't know I could do that.

"It's so special and it feels like a massive, massive relief to come here, to do what I said I'd do. Every athlete will tell you, we didn't know that this was going to happen. We didn't know if we'd even be here in Tokyo.

"I was so excited but so nervous. I haven't raced any of those girls so I was like 'I have no idea what any of you has to offer' so I pulled out the big guns, did everything I could and thank fully it was enough.

Hannah races again on Saturday in the 800m, giving her the opportunity of winning a seventh gold medal.

Halifax Channel 4