Hannah Cockroft facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Hannah Cockroft
CBE DL

Cockroft in 2010
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Hurricane Hannah
Born	(1992-07-30) 30 July 1992 (age 32) Halifax, West Yorkshire, England
Sport
Country	Great Britain
Sport	Wheelchair racing
Disability class	T34
Event(s)	100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m
Club	Leeds City AC
Coached by	Jenni Banks
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finals	2012
Medal record Women's para athletics Representing  Great Britain Paralympic Games Gold 2012 London 100 m T34 Gold 2012 London 200 m T34 Gold 2016 Rio 100 m T34 Gold 2016 Rio 400 m T34 Gold 2016 Rio 800 m T34 Gold 2020 Tokyo 100 m T34 Gold 2020 Tokyo 800 m T34 Gold 2024 Paris 100 m T34 Gold 2024 Paris 800 m T34 World Championships Gold 2011 Christchurch 100 m T34 Gold 2011 Christchurch 200 m T34 Gold 2013 Lyon 100 m T34 Gold 2013 Lyon 200 m T34 Gold 2015 Doha 100 m T34 Gold 2015 Doha 400 m T34 Gold 2015 Doha 800 m T34 Gold 2017 London 100 m T34 Gold 2017 London 400 m T34 Gold 2017 London 800 m T34 Gold 2019 Dubai 100 m T34 Gold 2019 Dubai 800 m T34 Gold 2023 Paris 100 m T34 Gold 2023 Paris 800 m T34 Gold 2024 Kobe 100 m T34 Gold 2024 Kobe 800 m T34 European Championships Gold 2014 Swansea 100 m – T34 Gold 2014 Swansea 800 m – T34 Silver 2018 Berlin 100 m – T34 Gold 2018 Berlin 800 m – T34 IWAS World Junior Championships Gold 2011 Dubai 200 m T34/53 Gold 2011 Dubai 400 m T34/53 Silver 2011 Dubai 100 m T34/53 Silver 2011 Dubai 800 m T34/53

100 m 18.06 gold medal at the 2012 Paralympic Games

Cockroft winning the 100 m T34 qualifying heat at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Hannah Lucy Cockroft (born July 30, 1992) is a British wheelchair racer. She is also a TV presenter. She is known for her amazing speed in sprint races.

Hannah holds many world records in her racing class (T34). These include the 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1500-meter races. She also holds Paralympic records for the 100, 200, 400, and 800-meter events. She has won many gold medals for Great Britain at the Paralympic Games.

Hannah's Early Life

Hannah Cockroft was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. When she was a baby, she had two heart attacks. These caused lasting damage to her brain. This affected her hips, feet, and legs, making it hard for her to move. It also made it tricky to use her hands for small movements. She can walk short distances but uses a wheelchair for longer ones.

How Hannah Started Wheelchair Racing

When Hannah was in primary school, she was often told she couldn't join sports. But in secondary school, she tried swimming, seated discus, and wheelchair basketball.

She won a silver medal in seated discus at the UK School Games. This led her to a special talent day in October 2007. There, she tried an elite racing wheelchair for the first time. Dr. Ian Thompson, whose wife was a famous wheelchair racer, helped her.

Dr. Thompson coached Hannah for her first year. In 2008, a dance group helped her buy her own racing chair. Her dad, who was a welder, fixed it to fit her perfectly. After winning gold in her first 100-meter race at the UK School Games, she joined the Great Britain Paralympic Team. In 2009, Hannah won the London Mini Marathon for her age group.

Hannah's Amazing Career

2010: Breaking World Records

By 2010, Peter Eriksson became Hannah's coach. She won the London Mini Marathon again. In May, she broke her first World Record in the T34 400-meter race. She finished in 65.51 seconds. That same month, she broke seven more world records in just eight days! She won the Best British Paralympic Performance award for 2010.

2011: First Senior Team Debut

At 19, Hannah joined the senior Great Britain team. This was for the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in New Zealand. She won gold in both the T34 100-meter and T34 200-meter races. Later that year, she won the 200-meter and 400-meter races at the IWAS World Junior Championships. Her great results earned her another Best British Paralympic Performance award. She also became a lifetime member of her athletics club, Leeds City AC.

2012: Paralympic Gold in London

In May 2012, Hannah made history. She was the first Paralympic athlete to break a world record in the London Olympic Stadium. She won the T34 100-meter race in 18.56 seconds. She broke the record again later that month, finishing in 17.60 seconds.

On August 31, 2012, Hannah competed in her first Paralympic Games final. She won Great Britain's first track gold medal of the 2012 Summer Paralympics. She won the 100-meter T34 final in 18.05 seconds, setting a Paralympic record. On September 6, she won another gold medal in the 200-meter T34 race. This was also a Paralympic record, with a time of 31.90 seconds.

To celebrate her wins, Royal Mail made two postage stamps with Hannah on them. They also painted two post boxes gold in her hometown of Halifax. She was given the freedom of Calderdale. She was also made an MBE in the 2013 New Year Honours.

2013: More World Titles

On July 28, Hannah won the T33/T34 100-meter race at the Anniversary Games in London. She set a stadium record of 17.80 seconds. Later that month, at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, she won both her T34 100-meter and T34 200-meter titles again.

Hannah was nominated for the 2013 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. She was the first Paralympian ever to be nominated for this award outside of a Paralympic year.

2014: New Distances and Records

In March, Hannah won a Sport Relief version of Strictly Come Dancing. On June 1, she set a new world record for the 1500-meter race. She finished in 3 minutes, 53.57 seconds.

In August, Hannah won gold in the 100-meter race at the IPC European Championships in Swansea. She also competed in the 800-meter race for the first time and won gold. She was named British Athletics Para athlete of the year for the fourth time.

2015: First Loss and More Golds

In 2015, Hannah lost her first race in seven years. She came second in the 400-meter race to Kare Adenegan. But she won the 800-meter race later that day. At the IPC World Championships in Doha, she won her 100-meter world title again. She also won her first gold medals in the 400-meter and 800-meter races at a world championship.

2016: Three Golds in Rio

At the 2016 Rio Summer Paralympic Games, Hannah won three gold medals. She won the Women's 100-meter T34 Final again. She also won the Women's 400-meter T34 Final, setting a new world record of 58.78 seconds. And she won the Women's 800-meter T34 Final. She broke the Games record in all three events! When she returned home, she became a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire.

2017: Holding All World Records

In 2017, Hannah raced the 1500-meter for only the third time. She broke the T34 World record with a time of 3 minutes, 50.22 seconds. This meant she now held all the T34 World Records! At the same event in Arbon, Switzerland, she also broke her 400-meter and 800-meter World Records. Her new 800-meter time was 1 minute, 55.73 seconds.

In July, she returned to the QEII Olympic Stadium for her fourth World Championships. Even though she was sick, Hannah won gold in the T34 100-meter final. She set a new world record of 17.18 seconds. She also became world champion in the 800-meter and 400-meter races. This made her a 10-time world champion. She became the most decorated British athlete in World Championship history. The Sports Journalists Association named her British Sportswoman of the year. She was the first Paralympic athlete to win this award.

2018: European Championships

In 2018, Hannah had her first defeat on the international stage. She won silver in the T34 100-meter race at the World Para Athletics European Championships in Berlin. But she then won her European Champion title back in the 800-meter race.

2021: Tokyo Paralympics

In June 2021, Hannah was chosen to represent the UK at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. She won gold in the women's 100-meter T34 Paralympic title. She set a new world record of 16.39 seconds. This was her third gold medal in a row for the 100-meter event and her seventh Paralympic gold medal overall.

2023: More World Titles

In July 2023, Hannah won her sixth 100-meter world title. This was at the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris.

2024: Paris Paralympic Success

Hannah was chosen to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France. She won gold in the 100-meter T34 race with a time of 17.99 seconds. This was more than a second faster than her teammate Kare Adenegan. In the 800-meter T34 race, she also won gold in 1 minute, 55.44 seconds. This was eight seconds ahead of her teammate and silver medallist, Kare Adenegan. These wins brought her total Paralympic gold medals to nine!

Hannah's Life Outside of Racing

In 2013, Hannah moved from her home in Yorkshire to study journalism and media at Coventry University. She moved back to Halifax in 2016 to get ready for the Rio Paralympic Games. She hopes to work in television after her racing career.

In October 2014, Hannah challenged Boris Johnson, who was then the Mayor of London. She asked him to spend a day in a wheelchair. She said that "wheelchair access on the London Underground is so bad" that he wouldn't be able to go to all his meetings. Mayor Johnson said no, but he thanked Hannah for showing how hard it can be for people in wheelchairs.

Hannah looks up to Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc. Chantal has won 15 Paralympic gold medals. She has also helped Hannah as a mentor and advisor.

In March 2019, Hannah was on a special episode of The Great British Bake Off. In 2020, Hannah and her partner Nathan Maguire were on a celebrity special of the BBC show The Hit List.

Awards and Recognition

Hannah Cockroft has received many honors for her achievements in athletics:

• She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2013.
• She became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2022.
• She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2025.
• She was given the Freedom of the Borough of Calderdale in 2012.
• In 2014, she received an honorary degree from the University of Bradford.
• In 2016, she received an honorary degree from York St John University.
• In October 2016, Hannah was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire.

Racing Statistics

Records Held by Hannah

Images for kids

• 

  Hannah Cockroft's gold postbox in Mount Tabor, West Yorkshire