GB’s Cockroft questions venue after 17th world title

Hannah Cockroft claimed a 17th world title as Great Britain won gold and silver in the T34 400m at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, but then questioned the choice of host venue because of low crowds.

The nine-time Paralympic champion stormed to victory in a championship record time of 55.62 seconds to claim her 29th major title, while GB team-mate Kare Adenegan also won silver.

But the 33-year-old said she was disappointed to see the showpiece event, organised by World Para Athletics (WPA), staged in a largely empty Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium that has a capacity of 60,000.

“If I’m honest, WPA need to be looking more carefully at where they’re sending these championships,” she told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“You always hope that people are watching, you always hope that people are motivated to come and give it a go.

“But it’s hard to believe it when there is no-one in the stands and cheering you on.”

Entry is free throughout the championships, which started on Saturday and run until Sunday, 5 October.

On announcing the choice of venue, Paul Fitzgerald, head of WPA, said that it would be the largest international Para sport event to take place in India, and represented a “massive opportunity to grow our sport, our fanbase, and to impact society’s perception of persons with disabilities in the world’s most populous nation”.

Cockroft, who will be taking part in three further events in what is her eighth World Championships, said she hoped word of mouth would see crowds grow.

“I just hope that the message is going out to the people of India that this event is happening,” she added.

“I want it to change attitudes, I want it to change mindsets around disability.

“We had a Commonwealth Games here, we know it is possible to fill the stands, so hopefully as the week goes on the word will get out and people will want to come and flood the stands and we will have a bit more support come to later events.”

GB’s Fabienne Andre finished third in the women’s T34 400m, behind team-mates Cockroft and Adenegan, but no bronze medal was awarded because there were only four athletes in the field.

The event had not featured in the past three World Championships, meaning Cockroft retained the title she last won in London in 2017.

Earlier, GB’s Thomas Young claimed bronze in the men’s T38 100m, finishing behind American Jaydin Blackwell, who won in a championship record time of 10.70, and his US team-mate Ryan Medrano.