Athletics at the London 2012 Paralympic Games

Staged in the brand new Olympic Stadium, the track events will be held over distances ranging from 100m to 5000m. Track events may begin with heats, with the best athletes eventually qualifying for the finals.

The field events broadly fall into two categories. The list of throwing events includes Discus, Javelin, Shot Put and Club Throw, while the programme of jumping events includes High Jump, Long Jump and Triple Jump.

The men’s and women’s Marathons will be held on the streets of central London on the 9 September, and will be straight finals.

As well as having the largest number of events and athletes at the Games, Athletics also has the largest number of classes. Each athlete is given a two-digit number: the first digit indicates the nature of the athlete’s impairment while the second indicates the amount of functional ability the athlete has. The lower the number, the greater the impact that the athlete’s impairment has on his or her ability to compete.

Classes 11-13 are for athletes with visual impairment.

Class 20 is for athletes with an intellectual impairment.

Classes 31-38 are for athletes with Cerebral Palsy, with classes 31 to 34 using a wheelchair to compete.

Classes 40-46 are for athletes with a loss of limb or limb deficiency.

Classes 51-58 cover wheelchair racers or field athletes who throw from a seated position.

A ‘T’ or an ‘F’ before each two-digit number shows whether the athlete is competing on the track or in the field.