Paralympic champions return to L'Hospitalet

Markus Rehm, Adiaratou Iglesias, Sara Andres, Fleur Jong and Yassine Ouhdadi are some of the Para athletics stars in action at the 17h edition of the International Meeting of L'Hospitalet on Saturday (28 May) in Spain.  

The Meeting is one of the most traditional Para athletics events in the international circuit and this year will see close to 300 participants from 15 countries competing at L'Hospitalet Nord, in the municipality of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat near Barcelona. 

The number of competitors has seen a significant increase compared to the last two editions which had restrictions in place due to the COVID pandemic. Among the international stars attending the event, Germany’s Markus Rehm is a familiar face.  

A four-time Paralympic champion, the German will compete in the men’s long jump T64 – the same event in which he broke the world record at L’Hospitalet in 2015 with 8.29m. His current world record is 8.62m set at last year’s European Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. 

Winner of the women’s long jump T64 at Tokyo 2020, Dutch athlete Fleur Jong is another Paralympic champion at L’Hospitalet 2022.  

LOCAL STARS

There will be plenty of Spanish stars lining up at the event, including a home favourite. Tokyo 2020 champion in the men’s 5000m T12, Yassine Ouhdadi represents L'Hospitalet Atletisme and will be literally running at home. 

Adiaratou Iglesias, gold medallist in the women’s 100m T13, is another Paralympic champion representing the host nation, alongside two-time champions Kim Lopez (men’s shot put F12) and Gerard Descarrega (men’s 400m T11). 

In addition, the meeting will have the attendance of Sara Andres, the jumper and sprinter from Madrid who in the previous editions set world records in both the women’s long jump and the 200m T62.  

British shot put and discus thrower Anna Nicholson, South Africa’s Jonathan Ntutu and Tunisia’s Rouay Jebabli are other international stars set to compete at L’Hospitalet 2022. 

Greece and Japan are also travelling to Spain with some of their best athletes. Long jumper Konstantinos Veltsis and sprinter Jason Gantes will be leading the Greek team while sprinters Junta Kosuda, Atsushi Yamamoto and Koto Matayoshi will be defending the Japanese colours alongside high jumper Toru Suzuki. 

L'Hospitalet 2022 will be broadcast live on YouTube. More information about the event can be found on the L’Hospitalet International Meeting website.