France to host three major INAS Championships in 2018

“This is a great opportunity for the media and public to experience sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment across the country. That is especially true for the European Games being held in Paris – the host city of the 2024 Paralympic Games."

The International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (INAS) has announced that France will host Championships in indoor athletics, road cycling and tennis in 2018.

First up is the 2018 INAS Indoor Athletics Championships from 2-4 March in Val De Reuil. The competition is expected to attract 100 athletes from 15 countries and will be held at the Jesse Owens Stadium. It follows on from the last edition in Ancona, Italy, in 2016.

It will feature athletes with an intellectual impairment (II1) as well two new trial groups: II2 – for athletes with a more significant intellectual impairment, and II3 – for athletes with high-functioning autism. These were also introduced in swimming and table tennis in 2017.

World Championships in road cycling and tennis will then take place as part of the first INAS European Games in Paris from 14 – 22 July. The multi-sport event is an INAS Europe competition but these two sports will be open to countries from outside of the continent.

All three Championships will be organised locally by the Federation Francaise du Sport Adapte (FFSA).

Around 30 cyclists from five countries will compete at the Polygone – bois de Vincennes. Forty tennis players from seven nations will go for titles at the Cercle Athlétique de Montrouge. Exact dates for each Championships will be confirmed shortly.

World Championships in both sports are held every year. In 2017 Assen, the Netherlands, hosted road cyclists from around the world. Bolton, Great Britain, staged the 2017 tennis Worlds.

Marc Truffaut, INAS President, said: “France have hosted INAS Championships in the past and have always put on a good show. I have no doubt that these three competitions will meet and exceed the standards set in the past.

“This is a great opportunity for the media and public to experience sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment across the country. That is especially true for the European Games being held in Paris – the host city of the 2024 Paralympic Games.

“As President of INAS and a French citizen I am extremely proud to welcome some of the world’s best athletes to France in 2018.”