Record sales but final push is launched to fill the stadium
Matt Majendie
EPISODES. The word is innocuous enough and Kadeena Cox brushes off her “episodes”, as she refers to them, as though they are a mere inconvenience.
But when they strike — the last happened just two months before the Paralympics last year — the reality as a mu l t i p l e sclerosis sufferer is that they are venomous, resulting in her being hospitalised for two weeks at a time.
Such is the energy that Cox effuses, it is hard to imagine her ever being felled but it is less than three years since her diagnosis, which affects her muscle control, vision and balance, as well as causing a loss of sensation and heavy fatigue.
In Rio de Janeiro, she made a name for herself with two golds as part of a four-medal haul. In turn, the 26-year-old became the first British Paralympian since Isabel Newstead in 1988 to win medals in t wo sports at the same Games.
Cox (left) took gold in the T38 400metres and in the C4-5 cycling time trial.
For now, she has put the cycling on hold to focus on London 2017 where she intends to compete in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 4x100m, although that depends on her health and level of fatigue nearer the time.
Cox is regularly referred to as an “inspiration” but she still finds it hard to come to terms with that tag.
“That word takes a while to get used to as I’m not a massive fan of it,” she says. “I just like to go out and do what I do best. I want to be a role model and not because I’m special but to show them what they can do. I like to empower people.”
She has not entirely put the bicycle away, Cox using a watt bike to help her body under the rigours of 400m training in particular.
And she makes no secret of missing her dual life, flitting from cycling in Manchester to running in Leeds in what was a hectic juggling act leading to Rio last summer.
One train of thought is that taking on too much could be detrimental to both body and mind.
But Cox insists: “I’ve come to the conclusion that the more I do the better I seem to stay. So, I just keep on doing more.
“My mum sometimes gets a bit stressed about it but that’s what mums are for isn’t it? I just want to reach for my dreams.”
The most pressing dreams relate to London. In the months leading up to it, she has allowed herself to imagine hearing the national anthem playing at the London Stadium, as well as the clinking of multiple medals around her neck to which she grew accustomed in Rio.
“I don’t want to make any medal predictions but I want to walk away with at least two medals and I’d like them to be gold,” she says. “Who wouldn’t?”
A then up-and-coming able-bodied athlete in 2012, she watched at home as the fanfare erupted for both the Olympics and Paralympics.
She has since spoken at length with two of the stars of those Games, Jonnie Peacock and Hannah Cockroft, to get an understanding of what awaits next month.
“I’ve got some sort of idea with the noise there was for the Brazilian athletes in Rio,” she says. “And I’m feeling healthy at the moment. I’ve been on this medication for two years and the last proper episode I had was before Rio. Hopefully, that stays the same.”
After London, the plan is to revert to cycling and her dual sporting life, once more targeting double gold at the next Paralympics in 2020.
“It’s been hard to ditch the cycling for the time being as it worked so well together with the athletics,” she adds. “But London 2017 has to be my sole focus this season to make sure I’m in the best possible shape for that.” TICKET sales for the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships have already hit record levels, writes
Matt Majendie.
In fact, sales of 230,000 are more than the previous seven editions of the championships combined.
However, London 2017 chairman Ed Warner says he will “not be happy until we have sold every seat” and today he launched a final ticket push under the banner Fill The Stadium.
“When the Paralympics followed the Olympics in 2012, there were still half a million tickets available when the Olympics ended,” he said. “This time we’ve got the para event first.
“In the past, there have been hundreds rather than thousands of tickets sold for sessions, a lot of them to coaches and families but we have sold 230,000 tickets. We have more than 30,000 for some sessions but we want more.
“This is not just sport but para sport, and how it can overcome
‘Britain won a truckload of medals in Rio and I’d say you’ll see medals by British athletes in every session’
Ed Warner
adversity. This is a chance to show that London is open to the world and to all backgrounds.”
Warner fears people who do not go to London 2017 will regret it as many in the city did when they missed out on tickets for the Games here five years ago.
“Don’t just watch it on Channel 4, hear it on Five Live or read it in the Evening Standard, and regret not being there,” he said. “It’s a chance to see the heroes of 2012 like Hannah Cockroft, Jonnie Peacock and Aled Davies, and the global stars like Tatyana McFadden.”
Tickets are priced from £10 per adult with every child ticket just £5. The Fill The Stadium campaign is supported by a range of stars — both from in and outside the sport.
Warner added: “To have sessions half full or more would be great although I won’t be truly happy until we have sold every seat. What I would say to prospective ticket buyers is Great Britain won a truckload of medals at the last Paralympics and I’d say you’ll see medals by British athletes in every session.”