Peacock wins in first race back since claiming gold at Paralympics

DODDINGTON’S Paralympic hero Jonnie Peacock MBE won on his return from ankle surgery at the Great City Games in Manchester on Saturday.

The 19-year-old clocked a time of 11.46 seconds to beat American rivals Blake Leeper and David Prince on a specially built track on the streets of Manchester.

He had not raced since becoming Paralympic T44 100m champion on a memorable night in front of 80,000 people at the Olympic Stadium in September last year.

The winning time is the Brit’s slowest since 2011 but Peacock admits his comeback from injury is in its early stages.

He said: “I haven’t been in training very long and at the end you could see that.

“The first 60 metres was all right but there’s a lot to work on.

“I love competing in front of the British public, it’s always special. It’s my first time competing in the middle of a street and it’s totally different.”

Peacock admits it has taken time to readjust to life after the euphoria of winning the gold medal.

He said: “You’ve been training for three years to do something - every single race has been building up to it - and your life feels as if it has stopped after 2012.”

But he has changed his blade, moved to Loughborough to work with new coach Steve Fudge and has his sights set on July’s World Championships.

Peacock has not ruled out beating his world record of 10.85 seconds, which he set in the Paralympic final.

He said: “Obviously, it’s unlikely that 10.85 is the fastest that I’ll go, but we don’t know what the best will be. It could be a low 10.8. It could be a high 10.7. It could be faster.

“The only way is to keep watching. Hopefully, we’ll see some fast times pop up.”