World enews: Hannah Cockroft smashes own Paralympic record to claim seventh career gold

Wheelchair racing star Hannah Cockroft smashed her own Paralympic record as she cruised to gold in the T34 800m in Tokyo.

Cockroft flew out of the blocks at a rain-soaked Olympic Stadium and finished more than 10 seconds ahead of British silver medallist Kare Adenegan.

The 29-year-old’s time of 1:48.99 was just 0.12secs outside the world record she set at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Switzerland in May, with GB team-mate Kare Adenegan crossing the line in a personal best 1:59.85.

American Alexa Halko prevented ParalympicsGB dominating the podium as she took bronze in 2:02.22, just under seven seconds ahead of fourth-placed Briton Fabienne Andre.

Yorkshire-born Cockroft, who also retained her 100m title on Sunday ahead of Adenegan, now has a total of seven Paralympic golds following her debut at London 2012.

She heads home four short of matching Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson as Britain’s most successful athletics Paralympian.