IPC to live stream Athletics World Championships

After the successful London 2012 Paralympic Games coverage, a number of countries announced they will broadcast the World Championships live on TV, including French channel France Television, Channel 4 in the UK and SporTV in Brazil.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced on Wednesday (19 June) that it will live stream all action from the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships, which begin in exactly one month in Lyon, France.

With 1,300 athletes from 90 countries set to compete, the Stade du Rhone will host some legendary rivalries played out over nine days of competition and shown on the IPC’s YouTube channel ParalympicSport.TV.

In the build-up to Lyon last weekend (15-16 June), two world records fell at the IPC Athletics Grand Prix in Berlin, Germany, with Brazil’s Alan Fonteles Oliveira posting a 10.77-second run in the 100m T43 and the Netherlands’ Marlou van Rhijn shattering her own 100m T43 world record by 0.31 seconds to become the fastest female on blades of all-time.

France’s own Marie Amelie Le Fur, however, beat "Blade Babe" van Rhijn last summer in London in the 100m T44 and will look to spoil van Rhijn’s party in front of her home crowd.

Recently, the competition has heated up in the men’s T43 and T44 races, with American Paralympic silver medallist Richard Browne claiming he could beat Great Britain’s Jonnie Peacock after unofficially equalling Peacock’s T44 world record with a time of 10.85 seconds.

It was Jerome Singleton and Jarryd Wallace, however, who came in first and second at the US Paralympics Track and Field Trials, after Browne pulled up with an old injury, proving that the 100m T44 will be one of the races to watch at Lyon.

On the field, London 2012 gold medallist Kelly Cartwright of Australia recently returned from injury at the Great City Games in Manchester, posting a mark of 3.84m in the long jump F42/44 to officially qualify for the national team for Lyon. Cartwright will also face Le Fur in that event, where they picked up gold and bronze, respectively, in London.

Speaking to Paralympic.org, Le Fur, who will be competing in her third World Championships after picking up six medals in London including gold over 100m, said: "I'm really excited that the event will be shown on YouTube. It's important for the growth of the Paralympic Movement that as many people as possible can watch the action. It helps raise awareness."

Jeremy Nicholas will commentate on the IPC’s livestream – a familiar name to fans as the voice behind the athletics competition at the London 2012 Games, as well as being the voice of EA Sports’ FIFA 2006-13 video games.

Will Downing will join him behind the microphone, bringing his experience of commentating for Irish broadcaster Setanta on swimming and athletics at London, as well as Premier Sports TV and editing with the Irish Sports Network.

After the successful London 2012 Paralympic Games coverage, a number of countries announced they will broadcast the World Championships live on TV, including French channel France Television, Channel 4 in the UK and SporTV in Brazil. Several members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), who holds the broadcasting rights in Europe, have also expressed their interest in covering Lyon 2013.

At the last World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2011, China topped the table with 58 medals, including 21 golds, 22 silvers and 15 bronze. Russia finished second with 18 golds and Brazil third with 10.

Visit the event website for a full schedule of events at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships.

For more information on the IPC Athletics World Championships, please visit the event web page at http://bit.ly/1as105j.

You can also follow the action from the Championships on Twitter @IPCAthletics and on the IPC Athletics Facebook page.