BRITISH wheelchair star Hannah Cockroft picked up the sixth gold medal of her illustrious Paralympic career today by powering to T34 100 victory in a world record time of 16.39.

The 29-year-old lowered her own global best by 0.18 seconds at the National Stadium in Tokyo, with compatriot Kare Adenegan in second.

Silver medallist Adenegan, who finished in a time of 17.03, made the stronger start of the two before her dominant teammate surged clear.

Glory moved Cockroft a step closer to a long-term target of surpassing the 11 Paralympic medals Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson won between 1992 and 2004, and can close that gap further in the 800m final on Saturday.

“I honestly didn’t know that time was within me,” said Cockroft.

“I knew that Kare was going to move out of the blocks and I had to go with her as best I could.

“She just pulled a good time out of me. It has been coming, it has always been there hiding, it has just taken a few years to show its face.”

Her success came after Great Britain picked up a glittering full complement of triathlon medals, with glory for Lauren Steadman leading the way.

She upgraded the PT4 silver she won in Rio five years ago to PTS5 gold with a finish of 1:04:46, 41 seconds clear of the US’s Grace Norman.

Paralympics GB teammate Claire Cashmore completed the podium in that race with a time of 1:07:36, while fellow Briton George Peasgood had earlier won men’s silver in 58:55.

Steadman was favourite for gold in Brazil five years ago but was beaten by American Grace Norman after making an error in the swim section.

“That’s a massive redemption,” said Steadman of the win. “I was devastated after Rio, I was really destroyed, I didn’t go anywhere near my bike, my shoes or my swimsuit for seven months.

“My coach told me: ‘You’re not done yet and keep going’. I put all my faith in him and he got me there.”

The day had got off to a glorious start as GB’s rowers grabbed two golds, with Laurence Whiteley topping the PR2 mixed double sculls podium alongside Lauren Rowles, swiftly followed by GB’s win in the PR3 mixed coxed four final.