Kare Adenegan

After excelling on her Paralympic debut Kare Adenegan aims to repeat the trick at her first European Champs

IT’S hard to believe that Kare Adenegan is still just

17. The Coventry Godiva athlete burst onto the international stage three years ago with two bronze medals at the World Championships in Doha. Those podiums in the T34 400m and 800m gave a glimpse of her potential, which was confirmed in Rio at year later with further bronze medals over the same distances and a silver in the 100m. Keen to build on that fantastic performance in Brazil, Adenegan completed her GCSEs last year en route to the World Championships in London where she replicated her Rio haul on home turf.

This year - with fewer educational ‘distractions’ – the teenager is heading to her first World Para Athletics European Championships as part of a strong 52-athlete GB squad. And, fresh from her 100m world record at the Muller Anniversary Games, Adenegan will arrive in Berlin bursting with confidence. The youngster posted a stunning time of 16.80 seconds at the London Stadium to take three-tenths of a second off the existing record and defeat five-time Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft. She said: “I didn’t expect it (the record) at all and I was speechless when the time came up. I thought I was dreaming because I can’t believe it actually happened. “I knew my 100m was strong because I set a PB about a month earlier, so I knew I was capable of something big but didn’t expect that.”

Adenegan continued: “I’m still only 17 and I just want that to carry on at the European Championships. I’m so used to Hannah winning and she’s an amazing athlete, but it was all about doing my own thing. I wanted a quick time but that was a bonus. “It’s great to be in the GB team and have something big to really work towards. Having a big competition coming up is great motivation. It will be my first Europeans as well so I’m pretty excited about the new challenge and experience.” With the 100m and 800m events to go for, Adenegan is eyeing more medal success. “I’ve done well in both of those events this season, so I’ll approach them both in the same way and aim for two good results,” she added.

Giving the inside track on her form and training ahead of the Europeans, the youngster continued: “It’s been a really good season so far. Last year I had my GCSEs and the World Championships on the track to prepare for and compete it, so it was very difficult. “This year I’ve been in my first year of A-Levels and do still have one exam but have had more time to focus on training and have a more consistent season. That’s been so helpful. I still have lots of work and it’s not easy by any means! But not having a huge block of exams in the summer has certainly been beneficial.”

“I go into every international race aiming to get on the podium, but it’s important to just do my best and not think too much about medals. If I go out there and do my best then I’ll be happy.”

© Mike Varey, elitepix

“Having a big competition like the Europeans coming up is great motivation. It will be my first Europeans as well so I’m pretty excited about the new challenge and experience.”

Adenegan will line up against Cockroft once again in both of her events in the German capital. Beyond that, the main rivals from mainland Europe remain something of an unknown. “Hannah will obviously be there as the European champion but beyond that I’m not exactly sure yet who else will be racing,” remarked Adenegan. “Amy Siemons from the Netherlands will probably be there and she’s pretty strong as well. It’s hard to tell but there are sure to be some strong European girls there, so it’s all about focusing on my own training and seeing where that takes me. “We’ll be having quite strong training sessions right up to the Europeans. Not much changes, it’s just about being consistent and ensuring I’m feeling fresh and ready to compete at my best in Berlin.”

Even at the midpoint of the Paralympic cycle, the Games are never far from athletes’ minds.

Inspired to take up the sport by London 2012 and enthralled by her 2016 experience, Adenegan’s excitement for Tokyo 2020 is clear. “Rio was such an amazing experience and being able to medal in all my events was great,” she remarked. “I was so pleased with how I did and that experience helped me a lot going forward. It gave me extra motivation to train harder and set myself my new goals ahead of the World Championships and with Tokyo in mind. “Tokyo is the huge goal and my focus. After how well Rio went and how much I enjoyed being at the Paralympic Games, I’m desperate to go to Tokyo and have another great experience. “The World Championships next year are another big goal on the way. With those being in November, my A-Levels will be done and I’ll have a good period of sustained training heading into those. I was pretty happy to see that the Worlds were later in the year!”•