Nottwil 2026 WPA Grand Prix: Preview, stars and how to watch live

Wheelchair racing legends will take centre stage this week as the World Para Athletics Grand Prix arrives in Nottwil for the fourth stop of the season from 21 to 23 May (Thursday to Saturday).

The Swiss city — a regular destination for the world's top athletes and part of the Grand Prix circuit since 2014 — will host 454 athletes (297 men and 157 women) from 58 countries across all continents for the next three days: four from Africa, six from the Americas, 10 from Asia, two from Oceania and 36 from Europe.

How to follow?

You can watch the Nottwil 2026 World Para Athletics Grand Prix live here.

Complete schedule, results and more information will be available on this page.

Wheelchair legends

USA’s eight-time Paralympic champion Tatyana McFadden headlines the field, competing in the women’s 100m, 400m, 800m and 1500m T54 races. Last week, she bettered her own 400m T54 world record* at a Para athletics meeting in Arbon, Switzerland, where she also clinched gold in all her events and will look to carry that momentum into Nottwil.

The 13-time world champion is part of a 30-strong USA delegation that also includes Paris 2024 champions Ezra Frech (men’s 100m T63) and Noelle Malkamaki (women’s shot put F46).

Belgium’s reigning Paralympic champion Lea Bayekula will add further excitement to the women’s T54 races. She is the Paralympic champion in both the 100m and 400m.

Canada’s two-time Paralympic champion and 12-time world champion Brent Lakatos is another start ti watch. His victories in the men’s 400m, 800m and 1500m T53 races in Arbon last weekend make him a strong contender in Nottwil, where he will face Thailand’s Pongsakorn Paeyo and Saudi Arabia’s Abdulrahman Alqurashi.

Paeyo is Thailand’s most decorated Paralympian with six gold medals, while Alqurashi is Saudi Arabia’s only Paralympic champion in Para athletics. 

Lakatos’ fellow Canadian racer Austin Smeenk will also aim for the top of the podium in the men’s T34 races after his gold medal performances in Switzerland last week.

A classic on the World Para Athletics Grand Prix circuit is here! 🇨🇭
See you in Nottwil, with a star-studded lineup and big names starting this Thursday.#ParaAthletics pic.twitter.com/Sm7EvKbkV0

— Para Athletics (@ParaAthletics) May 19, 2026

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As in previous editions, the home charge will be led by Swiss wheelchair racing greats Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner in a 24-member team.

Hug, a five-time Paralympic champion, showcased his form in Arbon by breaking the men’s 10000m T54 (19:24.64) world record* — an event not included in the World Para Athletics Championships or Paralympic Games programme — and winning the men’s 5000m T54.

A tight contest is expected between Hug and Tunisia’s Yassine Gharbi, the Rio 2016 bronze medallist, who claimed gold in the 800m T54 and 1500m T54 races last week.

Five-time Paralympic champion Walid Ktila also arrives in Nottwil aiming to deliver strong performances in the men’s T34 races.

The Swiss team will also feature Paris 2024 Paralympic bronze medallist Elena Kratter, who impressed with a 5.31m leap in the women’s long jump T63 at the Meeting of L'Hospitalet in Spain last Saturday.

Asian stalwarts

Among the Asian nations, China’s 17-time Paralympic medallist Hongzhuan Zhou, one of the world’s leading T53 racers, headlines a 13-athlete squad that also includes Jin Hua, the double Paris 2024 champion in the men’s 800m and 1500m T54.

The team will be further strengthened by Zhaoqian Zhou, the double Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion in the women’s 100m and 1500m T54.

Hosts of the next World Para Athletics Championships, Uzbekistan will look to its Paris 2024 champion throwers Kudratillokhon Marufkhujaev (men’s shot put F37) and Tolibboy Yuldashev (men’s discus throw F37) to deliver more podium finishes.

*World records to be ratified by World Para Athletics