In the men’s ambulant 1500m, Ben Sandilands - world para athletics champion in the T20 class for athletes with an intellectual impairment - clocked 3:55.10 to take the win.
With a lifetime best of 3:47.02 going into London, and with his Paralympic Games debut imminent, it was a case of simply getting the job done: “I struggled a bit in the start but it got easier and I'm happy with the win,” he said afterwards. “The noise of the crowd is great for the race.”
It proved to be the perfect preparation for Paris where he delivered the performance of his life, winning the Paralympic Games 1500m title in a world record 3:45.40 after a fast final lap destroyed the field.
The women’s 800m wheelchair race (mixed classification) saw T53 athlete and fellow Scot Sammi Kinghorn clock 1:43.24 for a convincing win.
“It went according to plan...” she said. “I took it out and overtook Mel (Woods) who tucked in behind and then I tried to relax on the second lap and hold on to it.”
Kinghorn’s domination in London - she won by over three seconds from Belgium’s LéaBayekula (T54) - was an indication of her form ahead of the Paralympic Games. She went on to win five medals in Paris, gold in the T53 100m, and silver medals in the 400m, 800m, 1500m and universal relay (the T51-54 categories include wheelchair racers with limb deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement).
While Sandilands and Kinghorn enjoyed victories in both the UK and French capitals, there were numerous national records, season’s best performances, and personal best times achieved across ambulant and wheelchair races at the London Athletics Meet.
Zak Skinner clocked 10.84 for a PB, national record and victory in the men’s ambulant 100m (in the T13 classification for those with a visual impairment); Thomas Young ran a PB and T38 national record in third (10.92), while Kyle Keyworth ran a PB and T35 national record of 12.44 in sixth (the T35-38 classification is for ambulant athletes with co-ordination impairments).
Behind Kinghorn, Mel Woods finished third in the women’s 800m wheelchair race in a PB and T54 national record of 1:46.85, while Shauna Bocquet set a lifetime best and new Irish mark in the T54 category with 1:48.42 in fourth.
Multiple world and Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft (T34) finished fifth in London but went on to dominate her classification in Paris with double gold in the T34 100m and 800m (for wheelchair athletes with co-ordination impairments).
The London Athletics Meet - the UK’s biggest one-day athletics event - will return to the London Stadium on Saturday 19 July 2025. Buy your tickets now: britishathletics.org.uk/london-athletics-meet-2025
