Para sport in review: May 2017

Beijing World Para Athletics Grand Prix

Chinese athletes showed top form with two months to go until the London 2017 World Para Athletics Championships, setting four new world records and winning multiple events on home soil.

• Review 1 https://www.paralympic.org/news/two-field-world-records-fall-beijing-grand-prix

• Review 2 https://www.paralympic.org/news/two-more-world-records-fall-beijing-grand-prix

• Review 3 https://www.paralympic.org/news/china-impress-field-events-beijing-grand-prix

Rieti World Para Athletics Grand Prix

Icelandic thrower Helgi Sveinsson was the star at the event in Italy, breaking the world record in the men’s javelin F42. https://www.paralympic.org/news/sveinsson-breaks-javelin-f42-world-record

Arizona World Para Athletics Grand Prix

US wheelchair Para athlete Cassie Mitchell stood out by breaking a 28-year-old world record in the women’s 1,500m T33/34/51.

• Review 1 https://www.paralympic.org/news/kinghorn-and-morrison-smash-world-records-arizona-grand-prix

• Review 2 https://www.paralympic.org/news/cassie-mitchell-smashes-28-year-old-world-record-arizona-grand-prix

Swiss Para Athletics Nationals

A staggering 19 world and 52 regional records were set at the world-renowned fast Arbon track, between 25-28 May.

• Review 1 https://www.paralympic.org/news/eight-world-and-22-regional-records-fall-arbon

• Review 2 https://www.paralympic.org/news/lakatos-cockroft-and-ktila-all-smash-world-records

• Review 3 https://www.paralympic.org/news/swiss-nationals-conclude-more-world-records

International Canoe Federation World Cup

Rio 2016 canoe silver medallists Edina Muller (women’s KL1) of Germany and Markus Swoboda (men’s KL2) of Austria opened the sport’s season with convincing victories. https://www.paralympic.org/news/muller-swoboda-open-season-wins-szeged

Canoe South American Championships

Brazilian Para canoers won five of the six events contested in Paipa, Colombia, on 22 April. https://www.paralympic.org/news/brazil-dominate-canoe-south-american-championships

World Para Powerlifting World Cup

Egyptian powerlifters dominated the event in Eger, Hungary, securing multiple wins and cementing themselves as strong candidates ahead of this year’s World Championships in Mexico City.

• Review 1 https://www.paralympic.org/news/tunkel-victorious-home-powerlifting-world-cup

• Review 2 https://www.paralympic.org/news/egyptian-powerlifters-win-hat-trick-world-cup-titles

• Review 3 https://www.paralympic.org/news/perez-shows-world-cup-form-ahead-home-world-championships

• Review 4 https://www.paralympic.org/news/egypt-dominate-last-day-competition-eger

UCI Para cycling Road World Cup

• Maniago, Italy

The first World Cup of the year saw the Netherlands and hosts Italy claiming seven wins each to end as the most decorated countries. https://www.paralympic.org/news/italian-dutch-cyclists-dominate-first-world-cup

• Ostend, Belgium

Dutch and German cyclists secured five wins each at the second World Cup. https://www.paralympic.org/news/german-dutch-cyclists-secure-five-wins-ostend

International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) Wheelchair Fencing World Cup

Dimitri Coutya became Great Britain’s first ever senior wheelchair fencing gold with the foil, after defeating France’s Maxime Valet in the men’s foil category B final in Stadskanaal, the Netherlands. https://www.paralympic.org/news/double-gold-lifts-dimitri-coutya-no-1

2017 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Para World Team Championships

History was made in Bratislava, Slovakia, as Brazil captured the first Para table tennis world title for a Latin American country. https://www.paralympic.org/news/brazil-win-first-para-table-tennis-world-title

Para Table Tennis Slovenia Open

Paralympic champion Kelly van Zon wrapped up a successful tournament by winning two golds in the women’s singles and team class 7 events. https://www.paralympic.org/news/van-zon-shows-strong-form-ahead-europeans

Wheelchair Tennis World Team Cup

France sealed their eighth men’s title thanks to world No.1 Stephane Houdet and No.5 Nicolas Peifer, whilst Great Britain claimed their fifth quad title. https://www.paralympic.org/news/france-claim-eighth-world-team-cup-men-s-title China stunned the Netherlands to become just the third nation to win the women’s event. https://www.paralympic.org/news/china-stuns-netherlands-win-women-s-title

Japan Open

Australia’s wheelchair tennis Paralympic champion Dylan Alcott completed a hat-trick of Japan Open titles. https://www.paralympic.org/news/dylan-alcott-wins-third-japan-open-quad-singles-title

Korea Open

Japan’s wheelchair tennis world No.2 Yui Kamiji won the Korea Open, confirming she will be one-to-beat at Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the year, in Paris, France, from 8-10 June. https://www.paralympic.org/news/fernandez-kamiji-crowned-champions-south-korea

World Para Triathlon World Series

British and US Para triathletes took home three wins each at the second World Series in Yokohama, Japan, on 13 May. https://www.paralympic.org/news/british-us-para-triathletes-top-yokohama-podium

Oceania Para Taekwondo Open

USA’s Evan Medell cause a major upset in Auckland, New Zealand, by taking down Croatia’s top-ranked Ivan Mikulic 24-19 points. https://www.paralympic.org/news/medell-upsets-no-1-oceania-open

South American Championships

Brazil won the women’s regional wheelchair basketball event following a 67-40 victory over arch-rivals Argentina in the gold-medal match. https://www.paralympic.org/news/brazil-win-regional-wheelchair-basketball-event

South American Rowing Championships

Brazil proved to be the stronger nation, taking gold in all three Para rowing boat classes. https://www.paralympic.org/news/south-american-championships-welcome-para-rowing

International Blind Football Tournament

The inaugural women’s football 5 competition saw Japan stepping onto the top of the podium. https://www.paralympic.org/news/japan-win-first-women-s-football-5-event

Para Archery Juan Enrique Barrios Cup

The USA’s men’s compound open team set a new world record by just one point in Manati, Puerto Rico. https://www.paralympic.org/news/us-men-s-compound-set-new-world-record

2017 Lomianki Para Dance Sport Polish Open

Poland’s European champions Joanna Reda and Pawel Karpinski won both the duo Latin and duo standard class 2 events in front of their home crowd. https://www.paralympic.org/news/polish-dancers-delight-home-crowd

Goalball International Competition

The first goalball event to ever take place in Peru was won by Colombia in both the men’s and women’s events. https://www.paralympic.org/news/colombia-win-men-s-and-women-s-goalball-titles-peru

Mannheim three-star Para equestrian competition

Germany’s Rio 2016 medallist Elke Philipp, riding Fuerst Sinclair, was the star at his home competition in Mannheim, winning both the individual and freestyle grade 1 tests and finishing second in the team event. https://www.paralympic.org/news/philipp-zeibig-take-home-wins-mannheim