Sport: Athletics

Facts about Athletics

Track and field athletics combines sprinting and distance running, throwing and jumping events all under one roof making it one of the most exciting sporting events to watch. Athletes compete according to their functional classification in each event providing thrilling finishes as first past the post wins!

30 different countries were represented within the athletics programme at the Visa Paralympic World Cup in 2007. Staged at the Manchester Regional Arena at Sportscity on Sunday 13th May, the event featured elite competitors from across the globe.

All the major Paralympic nations competed - including Great Britain, Canada, China, USA, Australia, and South Africa.

The selected format featured 25 track and field events in a packed 3 hour programme, highlighting some of biggest stars and most competitive events.

Major stars from Great Britain included David Weir, Danny Crates and Ben Rushmore who set the world record in the T36 200m for the first man to go below 25 seconds in this event. In addition Oscar Pistorius of South Africa, Edith Hunkeler of Switzerland and Tatyana McFadden of the USA provided a truly international dimension to the competition. The highlight was an emotional farewell to Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson. The 15-times Paralympic medallist chose the Visa Paralympic World Cup to bring the curtain down on her distinguished career. Grey-Thompson's farewell was a fitting end to a week of world-class sport where five world records were broken.

In 2008 the event hopes to build on the success of previous years and once again host a strong programme featuring the world's top athletes.

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