Paris GP returns with stellar line-up

The fourth stop of the 2022 World Para Athletics Grand Prix season will be the host city of next year’s World Championships and the 2024 Paralympic Games.  

Paris, France will see athletes from 57 countries competing om Thursday and Friday (9 and 10 June) at the Charlety Stadium, the same venue of the 2023 Worlds. 

The Paris 2022 Grand Prix will serve as a rehearsal to what is to come in the French capital in the next two years with the crème de la crème of Para athletics in action and the return of the fans to Charlety.

FRENCH STARS TO SHINE IN PARIS 

Musician, humourist and announced as part of French TV show “Champion(s)”, nothing seems to be difficult for vision impaired sprinter Timothee Adolphe. With his several European and world medals, he is now on his road to take the only title that has eluded him so far: the Paralympic gold.  

Second in the men’s 100m T11 last year in Tokyo, he will meet again Greece’s Paralympic champion Athanasios Ghavelas. The young Greek athletes will be defending his title and his world record in Paris.

Other local stars looking at putting the host nation on the top of the podium will be Charles-Antoine Kouakou – France's only Tokyo 2020 champion in Para athletics in the men’s 400m T20 – and Mandy Francois-Elie.  

A three-time Paralympic medallist, she is also one of the most experienced athletes in the French team and will compete in the 100m and the long jump T37. 

The women’s 100m races will see plenty of talent and titles in Paris. From Argentina will be Rio 2016 champion and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Yanina Martinez in the T36 class.  

Spain’s young star Adiaratou Iglesias is the name to beat in the 100m T13 class while Germany’s Irmgard Bensusan will face tough competition in the 100m T64 against Canada’s Marissa Papaconstantinou. Silver and bronze from Tokyo 2020, they will also go head-to-head in the 200m.

ITALY’S POWER TRIO RETURNS 

The women’s 100m T63 will see Italy’s power trio Ambra Sabatini, Martina Caironi and Monica Contrafatto facing each other again in one of the most exciting events in the programme.  

The trio was responsible for a sprint clean sweep at Tokyo 2020 with Sabatini first, Caironi second and Contrafatto third. They repeated the same result in a national competition in Rome this year but since then Caironi beat Sabatini’s world record at the Eugene Prefontaine Classic in USA two weeks ago. 

Another rematch awaits in the women’s 100m T47 marking the first time Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Lisbeli Andrade from Venezuela meets USA’s silver medallist Brittni Mason since a photo finish separated the two in Japan. 

THE BATTLE OF THE BLADE RUNNERS 

In the men’s events all eyes will be in the 100m T64. Four out of the eight Tokyo 2020 finalists will race in Paris, including Germany’s Paralympic champion Felix Streng and bronze medallist Johannes Floors.  

USA’s Jarryd Wallace and Jonathan Gore will be joined by former world champion Richard Browne. Netherlands Olivier Hendriks is the defending European champion in the event. 

Finnish superstar Leo-Pekka Tahti will be taking the start of three events in the Charlety Stadium, the men’s 100m, 400m and 800m T54. The silver medallist of the 100m at Tokyo 2020 will be another one to watch in the French capital.  

Another veteran on the track will be Australia’s five-time Paralympic champion Evan O’Hanlon in the T38 races. 

FLEUR JONG AND LUCA EKLER TO LEAD LONG JUMP 

The long jump events will also be full of stars. Netherlands’ Fleur Jong returns to Paris as the current Paralympic champion and women’s long jump T62 world record holder. She will also be competing in the 100m, just like Italy’s Martina Caiorin in the T63 class. 

Another world record holder is Hungary’s Luca Ekler who will look at continuing her great season after she set a new mark in the women’s long jump T38 at the Jesolo Grand Prix in May.  

Brazil’s Silvania Costa is the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 champion in the women’s long jump T11 also going for more glory in Paris. 

In the men’s side, Malaysia’s Abdul Latif Romly is another two-time Paralympic champion and favourite in the T20 event. 

Indian athletes Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar, respectively silver and bronze medallist at Tokyo 2020, will go head-to-head at the Charlety Stadium in the men’s high jump T64. Kumar has recently won gold in the able-bodied National Championships. 

KAPPEL TO CONTINUE GOLDEN SEASON 

German thrower Nico Kappel will be the name to beat in the men’s shot put F41 in the back of the new world record he set at the Nottwil 2022 Grand Prix two weeks ago in Switzerland.  

Some of the world’s best throwers have come to Paris including Zakarie Derhem from Morocco, Tokyo 2020 champion in the men’s shot put F33.  

The long list of Paralympic champions also brings USA’s Jeremy Campbell in the men’s discus F64, Brazil’s Elizabeth Gomes in the women’s discus F52 and Italy’s Asunta Legnante in the shot put and discus F11. 

In the F34 class Colombia’s Mauricio Valencia is a silver medallist in the javelin at Tokyo 2020 who will also compete in the shot put. 

Brazil’s Yeltsin Jacques will be one of the highlights in the long-distance races as the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist in the men’s 1500m and 5000m T11. 

More information about Paris 2022 World Para Athletics Grand Prix can be found here.

Paris 2022 will be streamed live here.

You can follow the action results and behind the scenes on World Para Athletics Social media channels on Twitter and Instagram.