Berlin 2018: Battle of the Brits
Highly-anticipated showdown between veteran and teenager 22 Aug 2018Two British wheelchair racers will take centre stage on the third day of competition at the Berlin 2018 European Championships as Paralympic and world champion Hannah Cockroft takes on her younger rival Kare Adenegan.
One month ago, Adenegan, 17, hit the headlines as she got the better of Cockroft at the Anniversary Games in London.
The teenager was first across the line in the 100m T34, but not only that, she smashed Cockroft’s world record in the process, becoming the first in her class to go below 17 seconds.
Adenegan is the only T34 wheelchair racer to have beaten Cockroft – the last time was back in 2015, ahead of the Doha World Championships; she now appears capable of threatening her teammate’s stranglehold at the top of the podium.
Cockroft meanwhile appears to welcome the competition.
“For so long I’ve been the trendsetter and the person to beat and now there’s someone that I can beat – it’s the best thing that could have happened,” said the 26-year-old, who has five Paralympic and 10 world titles to her name.
The pair go head-to-head in the 100m T34 on Wednesday evening, with the 800m still to come on Saturday (25 August).
In the men’s 100m T34, Finland’s Henry Manni is out to defend the title he has won at the last two European Championships.
The first of the Racerunning events also takes place, with the men’s and women’s 100m RR1 finals.
World record holder Nikolaj Overgaard Christensen of Denmark will be hoping to claim the first ever European title to be awarded for the event, which was integrated in to World Para Athletics this year.
The host nation will be hoping Johannes Floors, Felix Streng and Irmgard Bensusan can all strike gold on the track.
Triple world gold medallist Floors races in the 200m T62; Streng goes in the 200m T64 – he stormed to a championship record in Tuesday’s heats and Bensusan is the fastest in the 200m T64 - although the Netherlands’ Marlene van Gansewinkel will pose a threat, especially after winning the 100m T64, her first major title, earlier this week.
Switzerland’s Manuela Schaer already has one gold to her name at Berlin 2018 – the 5,000m T54, which she claimed on day one. She will be hoping to make it two out of two with the 1,500m T54 the penultimate event on the track.
Poland’s Maciej Sochal and Great Britain’s Stephen Miller go head-to-head in the men’s club throw F32; Martina Caironi goes for gold in the women’s long jump T63 – a title that has so far eluded her – and Ireland’s Noelle Lenihan looks to defend the discus F38 title she won in 2016.
Every minute of the Berlin 2018 European Championships will be streamed live on the World Para Athletics website. Visit the Berlin 2018 website for live results, full schedule, highlights and latest news.