Sammi strikes gold in Manchester

Kinghorn joined 1,600 other competitors in Manchester over the weekend for the UK’s largest multi-sport event for elite level, school-age athletes.

Competing on Friday in the 800m wheelchair race at the Regional Athletics Centre, the Red Star Athletics Club racer had added competition in former School Games alumna Cockcroft.

The double Paralympic champion had opted to return as a guest racer to give herself training ahead of the IPC World Championships, citing the presence of Kinghorn as a motivating factor.

But Kinghorn was unfazed, leading from the front from the outset to come home first in a time of 2:08.79 minutes, over five seconds clear of her rival.

And while the Great Britain squad for the IPC World Championships in Doha has not yet been announced, Kinghorn is confident she is in the best shape possible.

“My training is going pretty well, I’m hoping for the World Championships in Doha. Everything is going pretty well,” she said.

“My targets for Doha if I got onto the squad would be to get to the final, and then just see what happens. I don’t want to say anything too much because injuries can happen out of the blue so hopefully if I keep looking after myself it will all be ok.

“I’m used to racing against Hannah most weekends so it was good to have her here. It went pretty well, I was quite nervous because it was really windy and this track isn’t that good for wheelchair athletes but it went really well.”