What to watch: April 2014

Summer para-sports are set to heat up again, with big events approaching in athletics, cycling, powerlifting and archery. 01 Apr 2014
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David Weir

Great Britain's David Weir took a year off after the London 2012 Paralympic Games and is now back on course to compete at Rio 2016.

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By IPC

April will be an athletics-filled month with two stops on the Grand Prix circuit and the Marathon World Cup.

IPC Powerlifting World Championships

From 5-11 April the biggest IPC Powerlifting World Championships will take place in Dubai, UAE, as 365 lifters from 68 countries will compete, including 20 current world-record holders and 30 medallists from the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The Iranian duo of Mansour Pourmirzaei and Siamand Rahman will battle to break the 300kg mark in the men’s heavyweight +107kg competition.

Para-Archery World Ranking Event

The second World Ranking Event in the sport will take place on 7 April in Phoenix, USA, serving as a chance for some of the top archers to earn points ahead of July’s European Para-Archery Championships and August’s Asian Para-Games.

UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships

More than 120 of the world’s best track cyclists will compete at the Bicentenary Velodrome in Aguascalientes, Mexico, from 10-13 April at an altitude of 1,887 metres. The event is expected to serve as the largest major international competition for track cyclists between the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

IPC Athletics Marathon World Cup

IPC Athletics will partner with the Virgin Money London Marathon to help support this event on 13 April across a variety of classes: T11-13, T42-46, T51-52 and T53-54. Nearly all of the world’s best marathon racers will be in action, including the USA’s Tatyana McFadden, Switzerland’s Marcel Hug and Great Britain’s David Weir.

IPC Athletics Grand Prix

The second and third events on the 2014 IPC Athletics Grand Prix Circuit will unfold in Beijing, China, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. From 14-16 April, Beijing will host the 2nd China Open Athletics Championships and from 24-26 April, Sao Paulo will stage the II Caixa Loterias Athletics Open Championships. The events will feature some of the world’s best sprinters, long-distance runners and field athletes from Asia and South America, respectively.