London 2017: Day 1 Preview

The eighth World Para Athletics Championships get underway today (14 July) in London, Great Britain at the city’s iconic London Stadium.

Over the next 10 days more than 1,150 athletes from 90 countries will contest 202 medals, back at the venue that memorably hosted the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Eight medals will be decided on the opening day of competition, and the first track final of the London 2017 championships is sure to bring the crowd to their feet.

The women’s 100m T34 features home favourite and multiple world and Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft; undefeated at major competitions, the 24-year-old Briton already has three 100m T34 world titles to her name, and broke the world record earlier this year.

Fellow Briton Kare Adenegan, US wheelchair racer Alexa Halko and Dutch Para athletes Desiree Vranken and Amy Siemons are amongst those determined to bring Cockroft’s time at the top to an end.

Another star Para athlete hoping to add to his impressive medal collection is Irishman Michael McKillop. The 27-year-old, who competes in the T37 class, is aiming for a phenomenal fifth consecutive 800m world title.

Reigning world and Paralympic champion Somaya Bousaid of Tunisia heads up a stellar field in the final of the women’s 1,500m T13. Teammate and Paralympic silver medallist Najah Chouaya and Morocco’s world ranked number one Sanaa Benhama are amongst those hoping to upset the form book.

The men’s 100m T54 final also takes place on Friday, with Finland’s four-time Paralympic 100m T54 champion Leo-Pekka Tahti hoping to overcome recent injury concerns as well as the man who beat him to gold at Doha 2015, China’s Yang Liu.

Kicking off the competition in the field on Friday is the women’s club throw F32, featuring Algeria’s Mounia Gasmi, who leads the world rankings this year, and Tunisia’s Maroua Ibrahmi who clinched gold at Rio 2016. Watch out too for Briton Gemma Prescott, Paralympic bronze medallist behind Ibrahmi and Gasmi in Brazil.

Next out on the field is the men’s shot put F38 – Australian Cameron Crombie has a season’s best of 14.92m, the best of all six entrants, while in the shot put F57 watch out for China’s Guoshan Wu and Poland’s Janusz Rokicki, gold and silver medallists respectively at Rio 2016, as well as Brazil’s Thiago Paulino.

The women’s club throw F51 sees Great Britain’s Jo Butterfield take on her great rival Rachael Morrison of the USA. Butterfield is the reigning world and Paralympic champion, but injury has hindered her training this season; Morrison meanwhile threw a world record 23.82m earlier this year – adding over one metre on to the Briton’s previous record mark set at Rio 2016.

Rounding off action on day one is the men’s javelin F46. Heading up the field is China’s defending champion Chunliang Guo and India’s Sundar Gurjar, who both have personal best throws over the 60m mark.

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