Four world records fall at L’Hospitalet meeting in Barcelona, Spain

Kadeena Cox, Georgina Hermitage and Shelby Watson amongst the record breakers. 19 May 2016
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Georgina Hermitage of Great Britain celebrates winning the Women's 400m T37 race and breaking the world record at the 2015 IPC Athletics Grand Prix Final.

Georgina Hermitage of Great Britain celebrates winning the Women's 400m T37 race and breaking the world record at the 2015 IPC Athletics Grand Prix Final.

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By IPC

British athletes excelled as four world records fell on the track at the 11th International Meeting Kern Pharma – Grand Prix Sauleda in L´Hospitalet, Spain on Saturday (14 May 14).

Kadeena Cox added the 200m T37 world record to her list of accomplishments as she knocked an impressive 0.72 off the previous mark set by Frenchwoman Mandy Francois-Elie back in 2013, finishing in 27.63.

The 25-year-old Briton, who also competes in Para cycling, stormed in to the spotlight at last year’s IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, Qatar, when she won 100m T37 gold in world record time in her debut year on the track.

Fellow T37 sprinter Georgina Hermitage was also in record-breaking form over one lap. The 400m world champion took a further 0.71 seconds off the mark she set on her way to gold in Doha, Qatar, last year, crossing the line in 1:01.30.

Teenager Shelby Watson was in scintillating form setting two new women’s T33 world records out on the track. The 18-year-old Scot clocked 20.97 in the 100m and 37.38 over 200m – knocking exactly one second off the previous 200m mark which had stood for 16 years.

Germany’s Paralympic, World and European long jump champion Markus Rehm (T44) kept the crowd entertained as he leapt 8.02m – despite the rainy conditions - to take the win ahead of his countryman Felix Streng (6.71m). Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Alaize leapt a new national record of 6.61m.

South Africa’s double world champion Ilse Hayes also lived up to expectations as she won both the 100m (12.53) and 200m (25.48) T11-13, while in the men’s sprints Streng (11.41) came out in top in the 100m T42-44 and Great Britain’s Zachary Shaw (11.43) won the T12/13 event.

The women’s 100m wheelchair event went to Russia’s T53 racer Akzhana Abdikarimova (18.73) while Switzerland’s world silver medallist Catherine Debrunner (T53, 33.42) won the 200m.

In the day’s 400m events, Germany´s Johannes Floors (49.47) won the men´s T43/44 ahead of his world champion teammate David Behre (50.31); Spain’s Luis Gonçalves (50.28) won the men’s T11/12, and Great Britain´s Paul Blake (T36) won the T35/36/37/38 in 54.98. The men´s 400m T52/T54 went to Russia´s Alexander Ganzei in 52.65.

Out in the field, European champion Kim Lopez (F12) from Spain added the discus (46.32m) to his impressive shot put win (15.52), while multiple Paralympic and world champion David Casinos also kept the home fans happy as he took the discus F11 win with 35.70m. Austria´s Bil Marinkovic – silver medallist behind Casinos at last year’s World Championships - had to settle for second place once again (34,84m).

In the men’s high jump, Great Britain’s world and European silver medallist Jonathan Broom-Edwards (F44) took the top spot clearing 2.00m, while there was a national record for Spain´s David Fernández in the shot put F57 (10.45m).