Hannah Lucy Cockroft OBE, PLY, DL, is seven-time Paralympic Champion, and one of Britain’s best-known para-athletes.
Born on 30th July 1992, Hannah suffered two heart attacks within the first 24 hours of her life. These cardiac arrests left her with multiple areas of brain damage and a collapsed lung, with doctors questioning how the damage would affect her quality of life.
Hannah was first introduced to para-sport at 12 years old, when the Cardinals wheelchair basketball team performed a demonstration at her secondary school. From this moment, she was hooked. Hannah played for the Cardinals for six years, whilst dipping into other sports through the club.
After picking up wheelchair racing at a talent day at Loughborough University in October 2007, Hannah has blazed a trail straight to legend status. Making her senior debut for Great Britain at 18 years old, Hannah is now one of the most successful para-athletes in recent times. Seven-time Paralympic champion and 14-time World champion, alongside three European gold medals, Hannah is currently the T34 World Record holder in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m. She was named an OBE in the 2022 Queens New Years honours after her success in Tokyo.
Off the track, Hannah’s personality has seen her invited onto shows such as ‘The Great British Bake Off’, ‘The Crystal Maze’ and ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, which she won with her partner on the show, Pasha. Hannah also made history by being nominated for the 2013 Sports Personality of the Year award; the first Paralympian ever to be nominated outside of a Paralympic year. Furthermore, she was named British Sportswoman of the Year by the Sports Journalist Association in 2017, being the first para-athlete to ever win the award in its 57-year history! Hannah was made a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire in 2016, being the youngest person to hold the title by over 30 years.
Most recently, Hannah represented Team England in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, her first ever Commonwealth Games team. She brought home gold in the T34 100m in front of a roaring home crowd, completing the set of gold medals at every major athletics championships.
Hannah’s experience of sitting on the sidelines in school sports until age 13 before finally finding a sense of belonging and ability through taking part drives her belief in the power of athletics to change young lives.