76 New World Records

A total of 1,200 athletes from approximately 75 nations took part in the 3rd IPC Athletics World Championships in Lille, France, from July 20 to 28 2002. The Opening Ceremony, which was almost washed away by the downpour greeting the delegations, was viewed by 12,000 spectators. Already on the first day of the Championships, which are the largest IPC competitions after the Paralympic Summer Games, 19 records were broken. On the second day, additional new world records were set, by, among others, the American Marlon Shirley. Encouraged by a highspirited crowd, Shirley set a new 100 m (T44) world record of 11.08sec, breaking his own world record of 11.09sec. All in all, a total of 76 world records and 181 championship records were set.

“The Paralympic spirit is present in the Lille Métropole Stadium, brought there not only by the spectators and the competitors themselves, but also by the hundreds of children passionately cheering the athletes on,” said Phil Craven, IPC President, during a press conference at the competitions.

Great Britain topped the final medal tally with 13 gold medals, closely followed by Canada (12) and Australia (11). China led the medal tally regarding total numbers of medals: 7 gold, 22 silver and 18 bronze, totalling 47 medals. In second place, the German team was not far behind with 9 gold, 12 silver and 23 bronze.

Elections took place at the IPC Athletics Sports Assembly, held during the Athletics World Championships: Jan Bockweg (the Netherlands) was elected Secretary and John Bourke (Australia) Chairman of the Sports Science Committee. One of the major decisions was that the IPC Athletics Section will, in the future, compile common ranking lists for all disability groups.The ranking lists will be based on the official results collected from national and international events.

At the Closing Ceremony of the Championships, IPC Athletics Chairperson Chris Cohen, said: “These have been the best World Championships yet. The level of organisation, the work of the many hundreds of volunteers and of the officials, but most of all the efforts and passion of the athletes has shown a move by our sport to a new level. The IPC thanks everybody connected to these Championships for their commitment, enthusiasm and skill for making this our best ever event.”