Channel 4 is to follow its 2012’s BAFTA-award-winning coverage of the Paralympics by covering three major international para sport events this summer.
The action begins with July’s IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, followed by exclusive coverage of the IPC International Challenge day at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games from London’s Olympic Stadium, then attention turns to August’s IPC Swimming World Championships in Montreal.
The world’s top athletes, including many British Paralympic stars, will be competing in the IPC Athletics World Championships 2013, as they begin preparing for the 2016 Games in Rio.
This is the first major international gathering since London 2012, with 1300 athletes expected in Lyon coming from 90 countries.
Daily live coverage will be shown on Channel 4’s digital channel More4 from 2.15pm-7.15pm each day between July 20-27, presented Jonathan Edwards and Arthur Williams, with John Rawling, Rob Walker, Katharine Merry and Danny Crates providing commentary.
Marking a year since the unforgettable London 2012 Paralympics, on July 28 the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London will once again be host to the finest international athletes at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games.
Clare Balding and Ade Adepitan will reunite on Channel 4 to present the coverage of the third and final day of the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games – the Sainsbury’s International Para Challenge – which showcases the Paralympic champions of 2012.
Live coverage will go out on 28 July in the afternoon – exact transmission times to follow.
Clare Balding said: “I’m delighted that one year on, everyone will be able to catch up with their Paralympic heroes and heroines of London 2012.”
Ade Adepitan said: “Being part of Channel 4’s Paralympics presenting team last year was a real honour and I’m so proud to be back celebrating the sporting achievements of 2012 at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games.
“I’m expecting some amazing performances and audiences full of pride and adrenalin – just like our British athletes.”
The third event to covered this summer on Channel 4 will be the IPC Swimming World Championships in Montreal, Canada, from August 12-18.
Paralympic champions Ellie Simmonds and Josef Craig are expected to compete alongside over 650 of the world’s finest swimmers from more than 60 countries
Viewers will get the best of the action online and on Channel 4, presented by Ned Boulting, along with former Paralympian swimmers Giles Long and Rachael Latham.
Earlier this year it was announced that Channel 4 had secured the UK broadcasting rights to the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi and the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Channel 4’s ground-breaking coverage of the 2012 Paralympics, which reached almost 40 million people, won two BAFTAs: for Best Sport and Live Event, and for Digital Creativity.
Channel 4 Sports Editor Jamie Aitchison said: “We look forward to enjoying more Superhuman performances on Channel 4 throughout the summer and reacquainting ourselves with the likes of Jonnie Peacock, Hannah Cockcroft and David Weir.
“Being World Champion at any sport is an incredible achievement so Lyon kicks off a fantastic period of Parasport in the coming months.”
Channel 4’s parasport coverage will be produced by Sunset+Vine, part of the BAFTA-award-winning production team behind Channel 4’s London 2012 Paralympics coverage.
Gary Franses, Executive Producer for Sunset+Vine said: “At the last IPC World Athletics Championships in 2011, Channel 4 produced a one-hour highlights show of the entire event. Now, just two years on, they are showing 40 hours of live coverage.
“This reflects not only the increasing influence Channel 4 holds in the sport, but also the increasing appetite for athletics that they have created amongst the viewing public. Sunset+Vine is thrilled to play its part in this success story.”
Building on the legacy of its game-changing Paralympics coverage, in 2013 Channel 4 also continues its commitment to giving platforms to disabled voices and talent.
Fifty percent of Channel 4’s 2012 Paralympics presenting talent were disabled, which was a new approach to covering the Games and reflected Channel 4’s established history of featuring disabled people.
Audience research carried out for Channel 4 around the Paralympics 2012 showed that two thirds of viewers feel the coverage of the Paralympics has had a favourable impact on their perceptions towards people with disabilities and also disabled sport.
80% of viewers enjoyed the fact that there were disabled presenters on screen in and 74% liked the matter of fact discussions about disability Channel 4’s coverage of the Paralympics.
