London Awarded IPC Athletics World Champs

(ATR) Olympic Stadium will host the 2017 IPC Athletics World Championships one month before it stages the IAAF marquee event – a world first.

On Wednesday, UK Sport announced its bid had been selected by the International Paralympic Committee to stage its track and field showcase.

A host of organizations, including the Greater London Authority partnering with the London Borough of Newham, UK Athletics, ParalympicsGB, the London Legacy Development Corporation and the University of East London, will help organize the event.

"This year London just staged the best spectacle of sport the world has seen," Mayor Boris Johnson said in a statement.

"By bringing the IPC Athletics World Championships to our wonderful Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park just a month before the World Athletics Championships, the capital is poised to recreate the magic of 2012."

"The London 2012 Paralympic Games were some of the best we’ve ever seen, and we cannot wait to see Great Britain embrace the Paralympic Movement once again with open arms," added IPC CEO Xavi Gonzalez. "The bar has been set high for the 2017 IPC Athletics World Championships, and we are eager to see the worldwide media attention they attract."

At the 2011 edition in Christchurch, New Zealand, 1,151 athletes from more than 70 countries took part. The next edition will take place from July 19-28, 2013 in Lyon, France, with nearly 1,300 athletes from 90 countries taking part.

Written by Ed Hula III.

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