Hahn completes the set with Commonwealth sprint gold

Tokyo 2021

Sophie Hahn completed a Beyoncé-inspired golden quartet after adding the Commonwealth title to her Paralympic, World and European honours on the Gold Coast.

The 21-year-old was favourite for gold but still ensured her best would come to the fore, stopping the clock in 12.46 seconds in the T38 100m – just two hundredths shy of her world record but still a new Games record.

She had British company alongside her on the podium as Olivia Breen finished third for Wales – her second medal of the Games – while Katrina Hart registered a season best in finishing sixth.

But for Hahn, this was a race all about completing the set – revelling in a Commonwealth adventure she had never previously experienced, with the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games already on the radar.

“I’ve always wanted to be able to get that Commonwealth medal so to come here, to Australia, and do that is so amazing,” she said.

“In the warm-up, I knew I just needed to get out there, to hear the noise and soak up the atmosphere and I’m so happy to be here.

“I think I will always listen to Beyoncé for the race, this time it was ‘Halo’ – something a bit more upbeat to get me excited.

“The Commonwealths was always something I wanted to tick off and the whole experience has been fantastic.”

The key thing for me is to be consistent and to see what happens from there before peaking for the Tokyo Paralympics.

Sophie Hahn

Breen's double delight

For Breen, meanwhile, this was not a first moment of celebration at the Games, with this bronze medal following up the long jump gold she had already secured Down Under.

Her time of 13.35s was narrowly enough to take third place, but more significantly took her to unventured territory as the only double medal-winning athlete so far across track and field.

Australian Rhiannon Clarke finished second with an area record 13.17s while Hart stopped the clock at 14.82.

A look at the scoreboard confirmed the golden news for Hahn

Day eight of the Games also saw action on the table as a plethora of English table tennis stars enjoyed productive days on the Gold Coast.

Among them was London 2012 Paralympic bronze medallist Ross Wilson, maintaining his perfect winning record in the group stage with a 3-0 win over Temitope Ogunsanya from Nigeria.

A TT6-10 semi-final against Welshman Joshua Stacey now awaits, with the pair now one win away from guaranteeing a Commonwealth medal.

Stacey was another to taste victory in the last set of round-robin matches, beating Mohamad Azwar Bakar 3-0 to take second place in Group 1.

But top spot in that particular group went to Kim Daybell, beating Canada’s Ian Kent 3-0 to take his place in Friday’s semi-finals – where South Africa’s Theo Cogill awaits.

But nobody hit perfection quite like Felicity Pickard, not even dropping a game in three group-stage contests as she prepares for a semi-final with Faith Obazuaye.

Action on day nine also comes from the track, with James Arnott and Morgan Jones both taking to the start line for the T47 100m.

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