For the first time since the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the world’s finest para-athletes are back together as they compete at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France.
Over 1,100 athletes from 98 countries converging at the Stade de Parilly for the sixth edition of the IPC championships from July 20-28, with all eight days of the track and field action being shown live on Channel 4’s digital station More4.
Many of the global stars from the 2012 Paralympic Games will be lining-up in Lyon hoping to add a world title to their medal-winning performances in London.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be sending a team of 48 to Lyon and they will be looking to surpass their World Championships medal tally of two years ago in Christchurch, where Team GB won 38 medals to beat the previous totals in Assen 2006 and Lille 2002 and finish 2nd overall on the medal table and joint 3rd on the gold medal table.
Despite the high-profile absence of Paralympic sport’s biggest superstar Oscar Pistorious, a new generation of athletes are set to take centre stage in Lyon.
Almost exactly a year ago, Britain’s Jonnie Peacock shot to fame as he stole the show in front of a packed Olympic Stadium, winning gold in the 100m T44.
The 20-year-old finished sixth at the World Championships two years ago, and will have to get past a tough field including American Richard Browne and South Africa’s Arnu Fourie, silver and bronze medallists in London, as well as the defending champion American Jerome Singleton.
The sprint showdown continues in the men’s 100m T43 with Brazil’s Paralympic 200m champion Alan Oliveira going for gold against the likes of US champion Blake Leeper and Germany’s David Behre.
Oliveira set a new world record of 10.77 seconds last month in Berlin and heads to Lyon as the man to beat.
Yohansson Nascimento is another Brazilian to look out for – the 25-year-old is out to defend his 100m T46 title as well as improve on the 200m world silver medal he won last time, whilst Germany’s World and Paralympic champion Heinrich Popow and Australia’s Paralympic silver medallist Scott Reardon are expected to do battle in the T42 sprints.
Watch out for Ireland’s double Paralympic champion Jason Smyth. The 2006 world champion was unable to compete in New Zealand two years ago due to injury, but this time around the man dubbed the world’s fastest Paralympian is regarded as one of the hottest favourites of the week.
In the middle distances, Switzerland’s T54 racer Marcel Hug will be out to take advantage of David Weir’s absence, although Frenchman Julien Casoli will be hoping the home crowds will help spur him on to victory.
In the field events, there is another major head-to-head between world and Paralympic champions, as Great Britain’s defending discus F44 champion Dan Greaves takes on Paralympic champion and world record holder Jeremy Campbell of the US.
China dominated the javelin at last year’s Games, with wins in the F44, F42, F40 and F12/13 men’s events, helping them to top the overall medals table in London.
The Chinese were also the leading medal winners at the last World Championships and few would bet against them making it a hat-trick in Lyon.
There’s plenty to look forward to in the women’s events too. Brazil’s Terezinha Guilhermina took home four gold medals from New Zealand, and the experienced 34-year-old is back for more this year, but will, as ever, have to watch out for her compatriots Jerusa Santos and Jhulia Santos.
Another para-athlete dominating her field is Tatyana McFadden. The American T54 racer contests no fewer than six events in Lyon, with four titles to defend – the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m.
Switzerland’s Paralympic 5,000m champion Edith Wolf and China’s Paralympic 100m champion Wenjun Liu are amongst a talented group of athletes hoping to upset McFadden’s plans.
Great Britain’s Hannah Cockroft is the one to watch in the T34 sprints.
The 20-year-old holds the world record in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m and as double Paralympic and world champion over 100m and 200m, is going to be hard to beat.
The winner of the women’s 100m T44 sprints is trickier to predict, with the in-form Dutch world record holder Marlou van Rhijn up against a tough field including French favourite Marie-Amelie Le Fur, first to the line ahead of van Rhijn in London last year.
Belgium’s Marieke Vervoort and Canada’s Michelle Stilwell are another duo sure to provide a captivating rivalry on the track. Vervoort took the 100m T52 title ahead of Stilwell in London but the Canadian turned the tables in the 200m.
Le Fur also competes in the T43/44 long jump in Lyon, where she will face Great Britain’s Paralympic silver medallist Stef Reid as well as the Netherland’s Iris Pruysen, who finished in fourth place behind the Frenchwoman in London.
Also in the field, China’s Na Mi is out to defend her discus and shot put F37 titles, to add to the Paralympic gold medals she won last year.
The action gets underway on Saturday morning with the men’s shot put F12 the first of 215 gold medals to be won.
It promises to be an enthralling eight days of track and field.
More4 will provide extensive coverage of the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships from Lyon.
Channel 4’s digital station will screen nearly 40 hours of coverage throughout the week, a significant increase on its output from the last IPC World Championships in Christchurch.
Jonathan Edwards and Arthur Williams will be trackside at Lyon’s Stade de Parilly to intoduce each day’s action on More4 and More4 HD.
Every afternoon session will be shown live in its entirety, plus highlights of the significant action from each morning session.
John Rawling and Rob Walker will lead the commentary team alongside former Olympian Katharine Merry and 2004 Paralympic 800m gold medallist Danny Crates, while Sonja McLaughlan conducts the trackside interviews.
More4’s coverage of the IPC World Championships forms part of a busy summer of para sport on Channel 4 which also includes the Sainsbury’s International Para Challenge at London’s Olympic Stadium on July 28 and the IPC Swimming World Championships from Montreal in August.
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.”
Sunset+Vine will produce Channel 4’s para sport coverage throughout the summer, including the More4’s para-athletics coverage from Lyon.
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.”
Channel 4’s refreshed Paralympics website will showcase all the latest news, interviews, features from the championships, as well as live streaming of More4’s coverage.
The broadcaster’s innovative LEXI guide also returns for the championships, helping viewers quickly get to grips with the various classifications for each event.
I have only just realised that the para games on more4 are live. I thought because they were on More4 they were repeats as I thought that more4 was like plus 4. I would have expected them to be on the main channel 4 side and I watch quite a bit of telly. Shame on 4 for not advertising it better.