Jalisco 2025 GP Preview: Cervantes and Zarza lead Paris medallists at home

The 2025 World Para Athletics Grand Prix arrives in Latin America for two back-to-back events, kicking off this week in Jalisco, Mexico, followed by Cali, Colombia next week. Jalisco 2025 is one of the four new Grand Prix on this year’s calendar and will welcome over 450 athletes from 11 nations competing from 9 to 12 May (Friday to Monday) at the Athletics Stadium of Polideportivo CODE Revolución in Guadalajara.

This marks the fourth consecutive year that Mexico hosts a World Para Athletics Grand Prix, as Monterrey and Xalapa serving as previous venues for the event.

How to follow

The Jalisco 2025 Grand Prix will be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube. 

Complete schedules and results will be available here.

Who to follow

Local fans will have the opportunity to witness the best of Mexico, as all six medallists from the last Paralympic Games will showcasing their skills – including its two Paris 2024 champions.

Juan Pablo Cervantes, the reigning Paralympic champion in the men’s 100m T54 and a bronze medallist in the same event at Tokyo 2020, will compete across multiple races – the men’s 100m, 400m, 800m and 1500m T54.

Kobe 2024 world champion and Paris 2024 Paralympic titleholder in the women’s shot put 54 Gloria Zarza will return to action in the same event at Jalisco 2025. 

Paris silver medallists include Gilda Cota in the women’s shot put F33 and Edgar Ulises Fuentes in the men's Javelin F54, both of whom have also claimed gold at Kobe 2024.

Rosa Maria Guerrero, competing in the women’s discus F55, and Osiris Machado, entering the women's shot put F44, are Mexico’s Paralympic bronze medallists featuring in the Jalisco roster.

Juan Pablo Cervantes se regala medalla de oro en los Juegos Paralímpicos París 2024

El mexicano 🇲🇽 impuso marca del continente en 100 metros T54 con una marca de 13.74 metros.

👉 https://t.co/8iDjZLJzls pic.twitter.com/qePEFW0Fhf

— CONADE (@conadeoficial) September 4, 2024

The visitors

USA will have the largest international delegation at Jalisco 2025, bringing a squad of 16 athletes – a mix of emerging talents and seasoned Paralympians, such as Justin Phongsavanh. He holds the world record in the men’s javelin F54 (33.29m) and secured a bronze medal in the event at the Tokyo 2020 Games. 

He will go head-to-head against local star Edgar Ulises Fuentes in one of the highlights of this year’s Grand Prix.

Argentina follows with 15 athletes, led by three-time Paralympic medallist Hernan Barreto who will compete in the men’s 100m and 200m T35. Barreto’s most recent sucess was a silver medal in the 200m T35 at the Paris 2023 World Championships.

El Salvador will send 12 athletes – nine men and three women – making it the third-largest delegation travelling to Mexico. Among them are two competitors who represented the Central American nation in their last Para athletics participation at the Paralympic Games, in Tokyo. 

David Pleitez will take on the men’s 100m and 200m T37, while Norma Salinas will race in the women’s 100m, 200m and 400m T37.

Lebanon and Bosnia and Herzegovina are the non-Americas nations participating in Guadalajara. Arz Zahreddine, one of just three Lebanese Para athletes to have ever competed at the Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024), will line up in the men’s 100m and 200m T64 at the Grand Prix.

The season so far

The 2025 Grand Prix season kicked off in Dubai, UAE in February followed by the inaugural New Delhi WPA GP in March, held in the same venue that will host this year’s World Championships. 

The traditional Marrakech Grand Prix in Morocco was the third stop of the season at the end of April.

From Mexico, the Grand Prix will travel to Cali in Colombia. This will be followed by Nottwil and Paris in Europe, Tunisia in Africa and the all-women's Grand Prix in Olomouc, Czechia.