Sophie Hahn and Aikines-Aryeetey notch up victories in Manchester

PARALYMPIC champion Sophie Hahn and Commonwealth gold medallist Harry Aikines-Aryeetey both gave the home fans something to cheer at the Great City Games Manchester, notching victory as athletics took over the city.

Hahn, who claimed Commonwealth gold last month to complete the set of major international titles, won the women’s T37/38 150m in what was her first ever street race as Manchester’s Deansgate was transformed into a pop-up athletics straight for the night.

Hahn lined up against fellow Brits Hermitage, Katrina Hart and Bethany Tucker in a great showcase for Paralympic sprinting in the T37/38 150m, winning in 19.29 seconds and admitting afterwards that she had to keep her focus during an unfamiliar distance.

She said: “Normally when you run 150m there is a bend and it is really tactical but it was great out there and the crowd really got behind us. Running straight for 150m is quite challenging. In the 100m you can keep momentum but I told myself not to tie up and to keep relaxed and cross the line.

“I won’t compete now until June. I have got a good four weeks of solid training and then I’ll be good to go for the next race. It is great to have Para events included like this and going forward there should be more Para events included in events like this.”

Fellow Commonwealth champion from the Gold Coast, this time part of England’s 4x100m relay quartet, AikinesAryeetey was also victorious in a tightly contested men’s 100m tussle with teammate Richard Kilty.

Aikines-Aryeetey took victory in the men’s 100m by 0.02 ahead of teammate Kilty, his winning time 10.35, with the 29-year-old simply content to cross the line first in a race that saw fellow Brits Sam Osewa third and Andrew Robertson fourth.

“Richard and I have been putting in a lot of load this week and weren’t expecting to run anything rapidly fast. It is a long season and at this event you try to get used to the structure of the race,” said Aikines-Aryeetey.

“The first ten to 20m I was a little bit behind but not too far. There was a slight bit of panic but then I relaxed and I eased my way into the race - It was nice, 10.35 is nothing amazing but it was good to win a race.”

There was no victory for Andrew Pozzi in the 100m hurdles.

The Loughborough-based athlete finished third behind Poland’s Damian Czykier and David King in a race which saw American Aires Merritt falling to fourth late on.