Cockroft and Fortune reign supreme at the Stade de France

Hannah Cockroft reigned supreme once more in Paris as she defended her women’s T34 100m title for a third time. 

Cockroft was dominant at the Stade de France to win an eighth Paralympic gold medal in 16.80s and become the first GB athlete to ring the bell at the stadium. 

Sabrina Fortune soon became the second as she won her first Paralympic gold in the women’s F20 shot put on the night GB claimed four medals. 

“I honestly didn’t know if I’d win it today,” Cockroft said. “This was the scary one.  

“It means so much to hold on for a fourth Paralympics, not a lot of people do that. 

“My wheels were buzzing, I was trying to find my grip. The last time I felt like that was London 2012 and I couldn’t be upset, look at those stands, they are full, which is what we want.” 

Karé Adenegan followed Cockroft onto the podium for a third consecutive Games as she finished 1.19 seconds behind to claim her sixth Paralympic medal. 

Adenegan said: “It means a lot, I had moments where I was questioning what kind of form I’d be in coming here. 

“To be a six-time Paralympic medallist is amazing and hopefully I might have another one by the end of the week.” 

Fabienne Andre had advanced to the final as the third-fastest qualifier but in a stacked field she had to settle for fifth in a time of 18.86. 

Beginning the medal rush was Sammi Kinghorn, who won ParalympicsGB’s first athletics medal of the Games to upgrade her fourth-place finish from Tokyo. 

The 28-year-old was a comfortable second as she overcame a technical issue before the race to get on the podium in a time of 1:42.96. 

She said: “That’s pretty crazy to win the first medal. I was having a little bit of a technical issue and I was having a little bit of panic out there before the start line and Hannah gave me a hug and was so good and just said to me ‘believe in yourself, you got it’.” 

Fortune then added to the medal tally on the day ParalympicsGB won 12 gold medals with a world-record showing. 

The Welsh athlete smashed her own world record, extending it by 29 centimetres with her first throw. 

It marked a redemption of sorts after finishing fifth in Tokyo having picked up an injury prior to the Games. 

She said: “I was really worried after Tokyo and then I just accepted the fact that it doesn’t mean you will always stay down.  

“You will stand up and sometimes you stand up much better and I just hoped I would do so and after this year, after world record, after world record, after world record and PBs, I was just going ‘you know what, anything can happen’.” 

Nathan Maguire achieved his best individual result at a Paralympics with fourth in the men’s T54 400m as Melanie Woods knocked two seconds off her personal best, which she had set in the women’s T54 800m heats, to finish sixth in the final. 

Zak Skinner also finished sixth as he improved his placing from the men’s T13 100m final with a time of 10:93. 

In the morning session, Funmi Oduwaiye delivered a strong Paralympic debut with eighth place in the women’s F64 discus. 

Jonnie Peacock then rounded out the day by qualifying for a fourth consecutive men’s T64 100m final as he finished third in his heat in a time of 10.93.