What happened in October? Here’s a round-up...

Great Britain tops medal table at Para cycling Track World Championships

Great Britain’s Para cycling team finished top of the medal table with eight golds, 12 silvers and seven bronze medals after four thrilling days of competition at the Para Cycling Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.

Kadeena Cox claimed her seventh world title - and her first since 2024 – with gold and a new world record in the women’s C4 1km time-trial. The 35-year-old clocked 1:09.545 after a terrific start which found her almost three seconds ahead after the first two laps. Her eighth world title then came in the C4 sprint with another world record in qualifying.

Reigning world champion James Ball and his new pilot Aaron Pope won gold and the rainbow jersey in the men’s tandem B 1km time-trial. The only pair to qualify for the final with a sub-one minute time, they then dominated the final, finishing more than two seconds clear of the opposition. Victory marked Ball’s eighth world title, while it was a first for Pope who claimed two Commonwealth titles with Scotsman Neil Fachie in the summer. Ball and Pope followed up with gold in the men’s tandem B sprint.

Sophie Unwin and her pilot Jenny Holl secured gold in the women’s tandem B sprint race - their sixth world title together - with silver medals in the women’s tandem B 1km time-trial and the individual pursuit as well.

Fin Graham took the win in the men’s 40-lap C3 scratch race, attacking with three laps to go. The Scot added an impressive silver in the men’s C3 elimination race despite a fall early on in the race, with bronze medals too in the new C3 sprint race and the men’s C3 1km time-trial.

A terrific final surge by Rebecca Newark in the women’s C5 time-trial secured her a first rainbow jersey on her World Championship debut, while fellow debutant Elisabeth Simpson won silver in the women’s C2 sprint. Millie Cass also won her first ever world championship medal with silver in the women’s C2 scratch race, adding a second silver in the women’s C2 elimination on the final day of competition. In the men’s tandem B individual pursuit there was silver for debutant Morgan Fice-Noyes and pilot Chris Latham.

Defending champion Archie Atkinson had to settle for silver in the men’s C4 scratch race, while he also won silver in the men’s C4 elimination race and bronze in the men’s C4 sprint. Jacob Smith won bronze in the men’s C3 scratch, while in the women’s C5 scratch Morgan Newberry claimed her first world track medal with a silver, as Crystal Lane-Wright took bronze. There was silver too for 24-time world champion Jody Cundy in the men’s C4 1km time-trial, while Lizzi Jordan and Anna Whitworth-Hay won bronze in the women’s tandem B sprint and in the 1km time-trial.

With the team sprint races on the final day Lizzi Jordan and Anna Whitworth-Hay teamed up with James Ball and Aaron Pope for the mixed tandem B race, and the four riders stormed through to the final before securing a convincing gold together - and a third world title in the Netherlands for Ball and Pope. In the C1-5 mixed team sprint Kadeena Cox, Fin Graham and Jody Cundy took silver behind a strong Australian trio.

(Image credit: SWPix)

Hat trick of European golds for history maker Dimitri Coutya

Dimitri Coutya made history when he became Great Britain’s first ever Para fencer to win gold in all three weapons at a European Championships.

Competing on home soil at the Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff, the 29-year-old, who won two individual gold medals in wheelchair fencing at Paris 2024, began his campaign with a fourth consecutive European title in the men’s epee B competition, following up with wins in the sabre B and foil B to complete a hat trick of gold medals.

Coutya had begun the competition as defending champion in the epee and foil B events, but his victory in the sabre against the reigning champion Adrian Castro of Poland marked his first-ever European title in that discipline.

There were further medals for the British squad with bronze for Gemma Collis in the women’s epee A and Justine Moore in the women’s foil B, while the new mixed team of Coutya, Moore, Collis, and Piers Gilliver won bronze in the epee event and Coutya, Collis, Moore and Oliver Lam-Watson won bronze in the mixed team foil.

The European Championships also served as the first ranking competition in the qualification window for the LA 2028 Paralympic Games where the mixed team events will feature for the first time.

(Image credit: World Ability Sport)

Debuts and medals at World Triathlon Para Cup

The penultimate round of the World Triathlon Para Cup in Alanya, Turkey saw a clean sweep of medals for the British male athletes. Oliver Scott won the men’s PTS5 category after clocking the fastest bike and run legs to secure his first gold medal at this level. Oscar Kelly and his guide Jack Hutchens finished second in the PTVI class, while there were bronze medals too for Ethan Dent (PTS3) and James McCarthy (PTS4), who finished with the fastest run of the day on his international debut.

In the women’s races Alison Peasgood - guided by Brooke Gillies - finished second in the PTVI category; her best result since returning to the sport after the birth of her second child. Former three-time rowing Paralympic champion Lauren Rowles meanwhile finished a superb third on her international debut in the sport having made the transition to Para triathlon earlier this year, winning bronze in the PTWC event.

(Image credit: British Triathlon)

Double gold for Para canoe’s Jeanette Chippington

Jeanette Chippington successfully defended her title at the World Canoe Marathon Championships in Argentina, claiming gold in the KL1 event for the second year running in a time of 48:06 before adding the VL2 title just a few days later.

Podium finish for David Weir in Chicago and New York marathons

David Weir finished third in both the Chicago marathon and New York marathons, crossing the line in the Windy City in the same time as second-placed Dutchman Lito Anker with JonBoy Smith in eighth. Both marathons were won by Switzerland’s dominant wheelchair racer Marcel Hug. Sadly Eden Rainbow-Cooper suffered a puncture at 1km in Chicago and had to withdraw from the women’s race, while in New York she finished in fifth place. The 25-year-old finished the 2026 Abbott World Marathon Majors series in second place behind Swiss Catherine Debrunner.

Para taekwondo stars Bush and Truesdale medal in Paris

Paralympic champions Matt Bush and Amy Truesdale continued to add to their ever-growing medal collection this time with silver and bronze respectively at the World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix in Paris.

Para climbing win for Abigail Robinson

The penultimate event in the 2026 World Climbing Para Series took place in Gunsan, South Korea with visually impaired climber Abigail Robinson winning the women’s B2 event after cruising to the top of the wall.