Did Unbeaten Hannah Cockroft Make History at WPAC 2025?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Hannah Cockroft achieved a historic sweep of women’s T34 gold medals.
- India recorded its best medal tally at the World Para Athletics Championships.
- Exciting new World Records were established during the event.
- Soman Rana's silver medal was a notable achievement after a protest adjustment.
- Overall, the championships showcased incredible talent and competition.
New Delhi, Oct 4 (NationPress) Hannah Cockroft, undefeated in her discipline, has solidified her legacy as one of the greats by achieving a clean sweep of the women’s T34 gold medals during the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday. This win marked her 19th gold medal across eight World Championship appearances.
The remarkable Hannah Cockroft has not experienced defeat in four Paralympic Games since 2012 and has dominated eight editions of the World Championships since her debut in Christchurch in 2011. Over this time, she has captured nine gold medals at the Paralympics and an impressive 19 gold medals in World Championships across distances from 100m to 800m.
The Indian team also celebrated its most successful outing, securing a total of 18 medals in this edition of the World Para Athletics Championships, surpassing their prior best of 17 medals (6 gold, 5 silver, and 6 bronze) achieved in Kobe last year. India had previously won 10 medals at the World Para Athletics Championships for the first time in Paris in 2023.
India's medal tally included two silver medals from Ekta Bhyan (women’s Club Throw F51) and Soman Rana (men’s Shot Put F57), alongside a bronze from Pradeep Kumar (men’s High Jump T64). This brought the home team's total in New Delhi 2025 to 18 medals, comprising 6 gold, 7 silver, and 5 bronze. India secured sixth place after being overtaken by Iran and Colombia on Saturday.
Initially, Soman Rana was awarded bronze in the men’s Shot Put F57; however, a successful protest resulted in the disqualification of a Brazilian throw, promoting the Indian athlete to silver. The Brazilian competitor fell to fifth place, leaving Finland’s Teijo Koopikka with the bronze medal.
Despite this controversy, Brazil maintained its lead in the medal standings with 12 gold, 18 silver, and 7 bronze, while China remained in second place (9-18-14) ahead of Poland (8-2-5). Noteworthy performances included new World Records set by Levin Moreno Denis (Colombia) in men’s Shot Put F38 (20.38m) and Yasin Khosravi (Iran) in men’s Shot Put F57 (16.60m).
Saturday's highlight was undoubtedly Hannah Cockroft, who claimed her third gold medal in New Delhi 2025. With five gold medals under her belt, only Catherine Debrunner (Switzerland) has achieved more podium visits than the British athlete. Pongsakorn Paeyo of Thailand also returned home with three gold medals, winning in the 100m, 400m, and 800m men’s T53 events.
While the 33-year-old Hannah Cockroft aimed to demonstrate her ongoing prowess as an athlete, it was evident that she faced little competition. Her race was primarily against the clock, as she surged ahead early on and completed the two laps with a championship record.
Reflecting on her achievements, Hannah Cockroft expressed that she wasn't fixated on her total number of global gold medals. "I'm thrilled with that one (800m), honestly. I believe it's the performance I'm most proud of. Anything below 1:50 is impressive for the 800. I'm delighted to leave with this outcome; we've been training hard in this event this year, and it's paying off," she stated.
Her fellow competitor, 24-year-old Kare Adenegan, who previously defeated Hannah Cockroft in a European Championship 100m final in 2018, was pleased with her third silver medal here. Rather than attempting to match Hannah Cockroft's pace, she focused on fending off the challenge from 18-year-old Lan Hanyu from China, managing to do so successfully for the second time in three days.