Swansea 2014 - What to watch on Tuesday 19 August

Thirty eight medal events will take place on Tuesday (19 August), the first day of competition at the 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships in Swansea, Great Britain.

In a packed programme, the highlights are likely to be the 100m finals. Here’s what to keep an eye out for.

Women’s 100m T34

The European title is the only one missing from Hannah Cockroft’s vast collection of gold medals and barring a huge upset she should easily top the podium. The 22-year old has not been happy with her times this year despite lowering her own world record in May. The Netherlands’ Amy Siemons is likely to win the race for silver.

Start time: 18:12

Women’s 100m T37

French sprint sensation Mandy Francois-Elie is the world champion and world record holder and will be confident of beating Germany’s Maria Seifert. Seifert is the defending champion and is only 0.18s behind Francois-Elie in this year’s rankings.

Start time: 17:20

Women’s 100m T42

Italy’s double Paralympic and world champion Martina Caironi is the one to beat having finished just 0.08 seconds outside of her own world record at May’s IPC Athletics Grand Prix in Grossetto, Italy. The German duo of Vanessa Low and Jana Schmidt will be her main challengers.

Start time: 16:14

Women’s 100m T44

Dutch blade babe Marlou van Rhijn will fancy her chances in the absence of France’s Paralympic champion Marie Amelie LeFur who is focussing on other events. The world record holder will be keen to dip under 13 seconds again and should not discount German newcomer Imgard Bensusan who has run just 0.09 seconds slower than the defending champion’s fastest time this year.

Start time: 16:34

Men's 100m T12

A world record could be on the cards when Ireland's Jason Smyth makes his debut in the T12 class. Smyth is the world's fastest Paralypian and, providing the wind conditions are right, could lower the current world record of 10.66 set four years ago.

Start time: 15:40

Men’s 100m T36

Russia’s 26-year-old defending champion Evgenii Shvetcov will go head-to-head with home favourite Graeme Ballard, who currently leads this year’s European rankings.

Shvetcov had a stunning 2013 season winning four world titles to follow-up on the hat-trick of Paralympic golds he won at London 2012.

Two other Brits – Ben Rushgrove and Paul Blake – will also be in with a shout for the medals.

Start time: 17:33

Men 100m T37

A new world record might be on the cards in what could be the closest race of the day. Russia’s 20-year-old world champion Andrey Vdovin will start as favourite, but will face a tough race against teammate Chermen Kobesov and Great Britain’s Rhys Jones. The Netherlands’ Jelmar Bos also has the potential for a podium finish.

Start time: 17:41

Men’s 100m T44

After winning titles at London 2012 and the 2013 World Championships, the European gold medal is the only one missing in Jonnie Peacock’s collection. The home favourite is the only man in the field to go under 11 seconds this year so it is likely that the Netherlands’ Ronald Hertog and the German duo of Felix Streng and Markus Rehm will battle it out for silver and bronze.

Start time: 16:27

Men’s 100m T54

The first of three mouth-watering sprints in the T54 class is likely to be a three-horse race.

The “Flying Finn” Leo-Pekka Tahti is the defending champion who has dominated this event in recent years. He will be pushed all the way by Germany’s Marc Schuh and the Netherlands’ Kenny van Weeghel.

Start time: 18:38

Away from the 100m races, Great Britain’s Stephen Miller will aim to defend his title in the men’s club throw F32, Switzerland’s Manuela Schaer will start her bid to dominate the women’s T54 class in the 400m, and Finland’s Toni Piispanen will be looking for gold in the men’s 400m T51.

The morning session will start at 09:30 and the afternoon one at 15:30. Both will be shown live on the official event website which will also feature live results and biographies of every single athlete.

Updates can also be found on Twitter and on Facebook.