Sammi Kinghorn hopes new chair will land her double gold at World Para Athletic Championships

'No idea' | Sammi Kinghorn admits she didn't know she had set a world record
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Sammi Kinghorn got her first taste of wheelchair racing at the London MiniMarathon in 2012 but now the 21-year-old is chasing double gold in the capital.

Kinghorn, who was paralysed from the waist down after being struck by a forklift truck while clearing snow at her home, broke the world record for the T53 200m at the weekend with a time of 28.61 seconds.

Tonight she returns to the London Stadium, bidding for gold in the 400m. Looking back on her first world title in what is her flagship event, she said: “I can’t believe I went through that line and it was a world record. It flashed up and I had no idea.”

Kinghorn praised the crowd for cheering her on to glory but knows against China’s Paralympic champion over double the distance, Hongzhuan Zhou, she has her work cut out tonight. Confidence, though, is high having switched to a new racing chair after Rio where she finished outside the medals.

“It has made a huge difference to the starts,” she said. “In Rio, as soon as the gun went, I lost everyone off the start. So I knew that to be a winner it had to be about ‘starts, starts, starts’. Now, I can say that the gun goes and I am a little bit ahead of them.”

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Kinghorn admits to being a little surprised to be both a world champion and world record holder just five years after finishing runner-up in her first race on the streets of London. That race came two years after the accident at home in Scotland, with doctors telling her she would never walk again after being hit by the forklift driven by her father.

Speaking previously to the Standard prior to Rio, she had said: “I don’t want him to think he ruined my life or anything like that. I think me coming here and doing something with my life and seeing me on the world stage, and hopefully winning a medal, will bring a bit of closure to him.”

While Kinghorn could be the star attraction once more for the British crowd, international eyes will be on Tatyana McFadden as she bids to complete her quartet of track golds at London 2017.

The 28-year-old is already a 14-time Para world champion and boasts seven Paralympic gold medals at the summer Games and a silver from the Sochi Winter Olympics.

But despite suffering with blood clots in her legs in the lead-up to London, she is confident of completing a fourth gold in the T54 800m.

“That was really tough dealing with the blood clots,” she said. “And knowing that I had to stay calm and relaxed. I had to dig deep from my heart. I could really feel that my body was tired but it’s been an awesome start to the championships.”

Looking ahead to a potentially grand finale, she added: “I can’t believe my last event is tomorrow. It’s all coming to an end so fast. Thank you London 2017 for being such a great hosts for the Worlds.”

Another star of the Championships, Ireland’s Jason Smyth claimed his second victory last night.

The 30-year-old sprinter, who is partially sighted, has five Paralympic titles and now five world titles, after adding the 200m to the 100m crown he won on Sunday.

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