The 2025 London Athletics Meet provided the perfect stage for British athletes to deliver selection-worthy performances ahead of the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi.
1500m star Ben Sandilands – the reigning Paralympic Games champion, former world champion and current world record holder (3:44.90) in the T20 category for athletes with an intellectual impairment – had already secured his place on the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team, but the sell-out London Stadium was an opportunity to build confidence ahead of his global title defence.
12 months earlier, Sandilands’ capital victory preceded his Paralympic gold medal in Paris. On this occasion he once again demonstrated his incredible talent with a dominant display in the men’s mixed classification 1500m, taking the win in a season’s best time of 3:48.95 ahead of Luke Nuttall (T46) and Steven Bryce (T20) who also clocked season’s best times in second (3:59.59) and third (4:00.13) respectively.
“It was amazing to be back racing in this stadium,” said the Fife AC athlete. “The first two laps were good but I was hurting a lot on the last lap. Having a pacemaker was really important and pushed me… we have the World Championships in India later in the year, so races like this are really important.”
Sandilands unfortunately had to withdraw from the global showpiece due to an injury sustained during his final preparations, however, his teammates used London as a springboard for their own success.
Following his second-place finish (behind Sandilands), two-time Paralympian Nuttall – an athlete in the T46 classification for athletes affected by upper limb deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement – was selected to represent to GB & NI in New Delhi where he finished fourth.
T13 athlete Arthur Milles, who was fifth overall in London in a personal best time of 4:02.43, was also selected. He made his senior GB & NI debut at the World Para Athletics Championships and finished 11th in the T13 1500m final (the T13 category is for athletes with a vision impairment).
In the men’s and women’s mixed classification 100m events, victories came from Zak Skinner (T13) in 11.01s (+0.5m/s) and former Paralympic, world, European and Commonwealth champion Sophie Hahn (T38) in 12.89s (0.0m/s). The T38 classification is for athletes with co-ordination impairments.
However, it was the less well-known names of Victoria Levitt and Bebe Jackson (fifth and sixth respectively in London in 13.26 and 13.44) who went on to shine at the World Para Athletics Championships.
Levitt emerged as one of the breakthrough athletes of the week in New Delhi, winning T44 100m gold on her senior debut before adding silver in the 200m with a lifetime best, while Jackson, also making her senior debut, won T44 100m bronze (the T44 category for athletes competing without prosthesis affected by lower limb deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement).
The London Athletics Meet will return to the London Stadium on Saturday 18 July 2026. Buy your tickets now: