Sophie Megan Hahn (born 23 January 1997) is a parasport

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

competing mainly in T38 sprint events. In 2013, she qualified for the

2013 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2013 World Para Athletics Championships, IPC Athletics World Championships was the biggest track and field competition for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Lyon, France, and lasted from 20 to 28 Jul ...

, selected for the T38 100m and 200m. She took the gold in the 100m sprint, setting a new world record. In 2018, she won the gold medal in the T38 100 metres for women at the Commonwealth Games; in doing so she became the first female track and field athlete to hold gold medals in the same event from the World Championships, Paralympic Games, European Championships and Commonwealth Games, mirroring in parasports the achievements of fellow Paralympian Dan Greaves, and Olympic champions

Daley Thompson Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson, (born 30 July 1958) is an English former decathlete. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four times. He was unbeaten in competit ...

Linford Christie Linford Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former Sprint (running), sprinter and athletics coach. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes ...

, Sally Gunnell,

Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards may refer to: Musicians *Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, pseudonym of bandleader Paul Weston and his wife, singer Jo Stafford *Jonathan Edwards (musician) (born 1946), American musician **Jonathan Edwards (album), ''Jonathan Edward ...

and Greg Rutherford.

Career history

Hahn, who has

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

, came into athletics at the age of 15. Enthused by the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

in London, her older brother, knowing of her pace as a runner encouraged her to seek an athletics club. Her mother got in touch with her nearest club and Hahn was called in for trials and accepted by coach Joseph McDonnell. Her first competitive races occurred in 2013, and in the Charnwood Athletics warm up she took the 100m and 200m races. After entering several tournaments in June, she broke onto the British sprinting scene by taking first place at the England Athletics Senior Disability Championships, winning both 100m (13.27s) and 200m (27.88s). Selected for the IPC World Championships in Lyon in the T38, Hahn was entered in both the 100m and 200m in the T38 classification. On 21 July, she won her qualifying heat of the 200m with a time of 27.56. In the final she was beaten by Brazil's Verônica Hipólito, but held on to take the silver medal. On 23 July she qualified for the 100m sprint, this time coming in second. The next day, in the final, Hahn ran a world record time of 13.10s, beating Hipolito into second place. At the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, she won a gold medal in the 100 metres. Hahn won gold in the 100 metres at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

on the Gold Coast in Australia. Also in 2018, Hahn had her impairment classification questioned by the father of a rival, Olivia Breen. At a Parliamentary select committee, Michael Breen claimed Hahn had been misclassified and was getting an unfair advantage. At the

2019 World Para Athletics Championships The 2019 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic athletics, Paralympic track and field event organised by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from ...

in Dubai, she claimed gold and set new world records in both the 100 metres and 200 metres. In June 2021, Hahn was among the first dozen athletes chosen for the UK athletics team at the delayed 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo where she won gold in the 100 metres. At the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

in Birmingham, Hahn won a silver medal in the 100 metres. While a year later at the

2023 World Para Athletics Championships The 2023 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was the 10th edition of the event and was held in the Charlety St ...

in Paris, she took bronze in both the 100 metres and 200 metres. At the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

Sophie came 6th in the T38 100 metres.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hahn, Sophie 1997 births English female sprinters British female sprinters Living people World record holders in para-athletics English disabled sportspeople Sportswomen with disabilities Track and field athletes with cerebral palsy Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships World Para Athletics Championships winners Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic athletes for Great Britain British Athletics Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Paralympics 21st-century English sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics