News

Para-cyclists from south-east and west Asia trained last week at the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) Continental Development Satellite in Yeongju, Korea.

The first-of-its kind training camp was coordinated by the UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland, financed by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) funding, and run by the UCI WCC Korean Development satellite. Athletes from Lebanon, Laos, United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Thailand made the most of this opportunity.

World Triathlon’s Executive Board has approved the inclusion on the 2023 season calendar of a new event, the World Triathlon Para Cup Taranto (Italy), to be hosted on Sunday October 29, 2023. With this new race included on the calendar, World Triathlon is adding another opportunity for Para triathletes to obtain Paralympic ranking points on back to back weekends, with the Malaga Para Cup (Spain) taking place just the week before.

The IBSA Goalball Sport Committee chairperson, Aurora Zanolin, and the West Asia Para Federation for Disabled Sport (WAPF) have been working together towards the promotion and rise of disabled sports in that region, with special attention to women’s participation.

Last August, a meeting took place with 11 representatives of the National Paralympic Committees (NPC) from Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Part of IBSA Judo’s strategy is to involve Africa as much as possible in active judo.

As a first step, a high-level international competition was organized in Alexandria (EGY) in 2022 and 2023. At the same time, the most important stage of the actual construction is relationship building.

After several negotiations, at the invitation of the African Judo Union, János Tardos, IBSA Judo Chairman, participated in the continent’s congress and gave a lecture.

Paris, the capital of France, hosted the first Para Taekwondo Grand Prix of the season, just one year ahead of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and it was a grand success.

Not just did the Para Taekwondoins got a flavour of the city ahead of the Paralympic Games, they made a strong point of their form ahead of the all-important World Championships and regional championships.

The World Triathlon Paralympic Qualification period commenced on July 1 and our inspiring para triathletes from around the world started their campaigns, earning vital qualifying points towards the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. 

To coincide with the start of this important qualifying period, World Triathlon launched its Para Athlete Support Grant, now in its second year. This grant recognises the heavy cost of travelling for para triathletes and is designed to provide athletes with the required financial support needed to race around for Paralympic qualification.

With a little over a year to go until racing gets underway at the Paris 2024 Games, some of the world’s best Para-rowers tested out the Stade Nautique Olympique venue last weekend, for the second edition of France’s dedicated Para-Rowing regatta to Paris. The event attracted rowers from host nation France, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, United States and the Netherlands, as well as a number of rowers from French clubs aiming to line up beside the Paralympic greats.

Ilgar Rahimov got elected as the new president of IBSA – International Blind Sports Federation which took place this Friday, July 29, at the Extraordinary General Assembly (EGA) in Fátima, Portugal.

The former president of the Azerbaijan National Paralympic Committee got an absolute majority in the first round against the other candidate, Sandro Di Girolamo, previous IBSA president.

On Monday 19 June 2023 during the IWBF World Congress, which had been postponed to be held alongside the 2022 World Championships, a new IWBF Executive Council was elected for the 2023-2026 term.

The Congress, which was taking place in Dubai, UAE, saw Germany’s Ulf Mehrens elected by acclamation as President of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation for a third term.

When Aishath Nazaha started playing badminton a year ago, she never thought it would take her to places she could only once dream of.

“The first time I left my country was in 2022 to go to a training camp in Korea. I was all alone, it was scary but once I got there, I had a great time. I learnt so much, met so many people like me,” said the 24-year-old from Maldives who plays in the Short Stature (SH6) class.

British Triathlon will be hosting the second edition of the International Para Triathlon Conference in Swansea from 12-14 July, just days before the world’s best paratriathletes race around the Prince of Wales Dock and SA1 Waterfront in the World Triathlon Para Series.