Paralympic sprinting icon Jonnie Peacock targets third 100m gold
After he contracted meningitis at five years old, Jonnie Peacock's mother was told to say goodbye to her son. However, 26 years later the British Paralympic sprinter holds two gold medals from the London and Rio Games and a bronze from the Covid-delayed 2021 Tokyo Games. Peacock will make his Paris Games's debut on Sunday at the Stade de France in the heats of the T64 100m.
Jonnie Peacock's mother Linda was once told to say goodbye to her son but 26 years later he is arguably still the poster boy for Paralympic sprinting and a contender to regain his 100 metres crown in Paris.
It has been quite a journey to becoming the vibrant, charismatic and humorous 31-year-old who spoke of being no longer "the hunted but the hunter" this week and questioned whether his rivals had the nerve to handle the pressure in a packed stadium.
Peacock won his first Paralympic title aged just 19 on home soil in front of a rapturous crowd at the Olympic Stadium in London in 2012. He repeated that feat in Rio four years later before taking bronze at the Covid-delayed 2021 Tokyo Games, a result which still rankles.
He begins his quest to rectify that blip in Sunday's heats of the T64 100m at the Stade de France.
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(AFP)
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