Tokyo Paralympics: Warwick student Kare Adenegan wins silver

Warwick student Kare Adenegan has won a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics in the women’s T34 100m.

Adenegan, who studies History and Philosophy and is in her second year, crossed the finish line in a season-best time of 17.03.

Compatriot Hannah Cockroft won her third successive medal in the event with a world record-time of 16.39, while Australia’s Robyn Lambird took bronze in 18.68.

Adenegan, from Coventry, proved a major scare to Cockroft after an impressive start out of the blocks, but the defending champion mounted a comeback and cemented the win.

Speaking about Adenegan’s strong start, Cockroft said: “There was definite panic there. The 100m, when you’re sitting on that start line, looks so short. She went, and I thought, ‘I haven’t got enough time. I need 120.’

“You just need to get your head down, get your arms moving. I had no idea how those girls were pushing, we hadn’t raced together. I had raced Kare once this year. It was a shock all around.”

The T34 classification is one of eight specifically for athletes with cerebral palsy, and one of four for athletes with cerebral palsy who use a wheelchair.

This silver is Adenegan’s fourth Paralympic medal – at the age of 15, she won silver in the same event at Rio 2016, and she took bronze in the T34 400m and 800m events at the same Games.

In 2017, she won 100m silver and 400m/800m bronze at the World Para Athletics Championships in London, and in 2018, she beat Cockroft in the T34 100m at the Para World European Athletics Championships in Berlin to win her first gold in senior competition.

She won the 2018 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.

On Twitter, the University of Warwick said: “A huge well done to our History and Philosophy student Kare Adenegan on her silver medal at Tokyo Paralympics – couldn’t be prouder!”